Age Of Aquarius
by No Guns Only Roses
Summary: After Leo and Donnie suddenly vanish along with half of the Earth's population, Mikey and Raph join the Avengers in their search for the Infinity Stones. Will they succeed in bringing back their vanquished allies and loved ones? Is this the Age of Aquarius, or the Age of Thanos? Sequel to "Savin' The Galaxy Again"
1. Chapter 1

**So here we are folks! The TMNT/Avengers crossover that I promised you! Enjoy the first chapter! **

**NOTE: There will probably be grammar mistakes that I will fix later. **

"You're kidding, right?" Raph sighed as he rubbed his face. "We're really all that's left?"

Immediately after Leo and Donnie vanished, Mikey and Raph called for a gathering in the lair, and to their dismay, only April, Pigeon Pete, Mondo Gecko, and Mona Lisa were left. Above the surface, all of New York was in panic over the sudden disappearance of about four million people.

April nodded, her eyes red and puffy from crying. "I called Casey ten times," she croaked, "but he never answered. So I went to his house." She wiped away a tear that rolled down her cheek. "His Dad and sister were there but...he's gone."

"Well, w-what about Karai?" Mikey asked tearfully.

She sadly shook her head. "Gone. Half the Foot vanished, too."

Mondo sat down on the couch and cradled his head in his hands. "One minute, I'm having a Coke with Rockwell. The next, I'm staring at an empty seat."

Pigeon Pete nibbled on a loaf of bread. "Maybe they're just on vacation?" he suggested.

Everyone just stared at him. The mutant pigeon was never the sharpest tool in the shed.

"Yeah," Raph grumbled as he looked down at the floor. "A _permanent_ vacation."

"Hey, we don't know if they're really dead, Raph!" Mikey snapped.

"Your brother is right, Raphael," Mona softly told her boyfriend as she walked over to him and touched his shoulder. "We shouldn't give up so easily. There might be a chance we could reverse all of this."

Raph sighed. "Mona, we don't even know what _caused_ all of this. So how could we fix it?"

"You will find a way," she smiled gently at him. "You always do."

"But..."

"Hey, guys, are you seeing this right now?" Mondo called out from the entertainment center, prompting the others to look at the TV.

On Channel Six, the anchorwoman was announcing the worldwide crisis, her own face pale and grim. _In every part of Europe, millions are reported missing with the number increasing every hour. The following video was recorded by a woman in Lyon, France. We warn viewers that the footage you are about to see is disturbing. _

In the phone video, there was panic on the streets as people suddenly turned to dust and disappeared, just like Leo, Donnie, and Stockman. Even a little girl, probably no older than ten, vanished as she was being held by her mother.

Mikey and Raph couldn't believe what they were seeing. It wasn't just in New York; it was happening worldwide.

"Okay," Mondo's voice trembled, "what the heck is going on?"

"And _why_ is this happening?" April asked. "An act of war?"

"Perhaps this is the Kraang's doing?" Mona said. "Or the Triceratons?"

Suddenly a monotone male voice spoke up. "I'm afraid it's much worse than that."

Everyone turned to see a tall dark-haired man in a black suit step into the room. He stared at them through his dark sunglasses and with an emotionless expression.

"Bishop?" April gasped.

"What do you mean, 'worse'?" Raph demanded. "Who did this?"

The Utrom pushed a button on his watch and a life-sized holographic projection of a burly man in armor appeared before them. He was very large and had purple skin and ridges on his chin. "The one responsible for this catastrophe is Thanos."

Mikey furrowed his brow. "Thanos," he mumbled. "Why does that name sound familiar...?"

Mona's golden eyes became large at the mention of that name. Raph noticed her shocked, fearful expression and gently touched her back. "Mona?" he spoke softly to her. "What is it?"

"Thanos of Titan," Mona whispered.

"Wait, who is this Thanos?" April asked the two aliens.

"A monster," Mona said, "Even Dregg is a saint compared to him. Long ago, there was a race of powerful beings called Titans. Their planet was crippled by overpopulation and there weren't enough resources to sustain their entire civilization. So one Titan named Thanos proposed a radical solution: genocide. He explained that if half of the planet's population were to be destroyed, their society would be saved from starvation and civil unrest."

Bishop finished the story for her. "The other Titans declared him to be a madman and banished him. Shortly after his departure, the whole race became extinct, and Titan was left a desolate planet. Thanos lost his world, but he still held onto his extremist beliefs and believed that it was his destiny to bring harmony and order to the universe by erasing half of the entire population."

"But...that's impossible!" Raph exclaimed. "No one's powerful enough to make half of the universe disappear!"

"No," Bishop said, "but with the Infinity Stones, one could be."

Raph raised an eye ridge. "The what Stones?"

Mikey's eyes widened in surprise. "Infinity Stones? Hey, I held one before! Well, technically, Quill held it, but we shared the energy and almost exploded but thankfully we didn't and..." He trailed off when he noticed everyone else's puzzled looks, then he cleared his throat. "They're pretty much these space rocks that can make you crazy-powerful. Some bad guy called Ronan tried to use one for his evil purposes, but me and the Guardians of the Galaxy stopped him. No 'thank you''s are necessary."

Mona turned to Raph confused. "The...Guardians of the Galaxy?"

"It's a long story," Raph mumbled.

"Yes," Bishop nodded. "Nova Corps informed the Utrom Council of your heroic actions, Michelangelo. But I regret to inform you that Thanos has annihilated Xandar and acquired the Power Stone."

Mikey's face became pale and his legs almost gave out at the news. Xandar, destroyed? "Wh-What? They...they're all _gone_?"

"I'm afraid so."

"But-But what about the Guardians? They would never have allowed that to happen!"

Bishop shook his head. "I don't know."

Fearing the worst for his space friends, Mikey released a trembling sigh and sat down on the couch next to Mondo.

"Wait," April spoke up, "you're saying that Thanos didn't just disintegrate half of the world, but half of the entire _universe_?"

"Yes," Bishop replied. "Not one inhabited planet in this dimension was spared."

The whole room became silent.

"Dude," Mondo said softly in awe. "That's seriously cool _and_ seriously messed up."

"So all we have to do is find this Thanos and make him fix all of this, right?" Raph growled as he cracked his knuckles. "No problem."

"If the stories about him are true, and he does have the Infinity Stones, then it won't be easy," Mona warned her boyfriend.

Raph shrugged his shoulders. "Is it ever easy?"

"Yeah," Mikey stood up from the couch with a grin. "We'll make that purple freak pay for what he did, Ninja style!"

Bishop cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. "While I admire your courage and determination, Turtles, Y'Gythgba is right: we mustn't underestimate Thanos' strength or his intelligence."

Raph rolled his eyes and scoffed. "Whatever. I'm not afraid of him."

"No, but millions across the universe are. You'll see."

* * *

**Week 1**

So Bishop, Mikey, and Raph began their search for Thanos and went back to some of the worlds that they explored during the quest with Fugitoid, starting with Varanon.

When they walked into the planet's most dangerous bar, they were met with bloodthirsty and angry eyes, but the moment Bishop pulled out the hologram of Thanos, some glanced away while others got up from their tables and rushed outside. The Utrom asked the customers and bartenders about the current whereabouts of Thanos, but not a single one of them would talk or even look at him.

Mikey was disturbed by the thugs' reactions. Bishop wasn't kidding: everyone was afraid of Thanos.

...

They revisited the cafe _Zayford's Cantina_ where they ran into an old enemy, Vrax Belebome, or "Bellybomb" as Mikey would call him. The moment the one-eyed blob spotted the trio, he tried to make a run for it, but Bishop kicked him back into his booth.

Mikey stomped up to the table and slapped his palms down. "Okay, Bellybomb," he said in a serious tone, "start talking. Where is Thanos?"

"Uh," Bellybomb nervously blinked, "who?"

"Don't play dumb!" Raph snapped. "Where is he?!"

"Look, I know nothin' about Thanos! And even if I did-"

Raph suddenly pulled his sai out and pointed it inches from the alien's eyeball. Everyone in the restaurant gasped and Bellybomb became frozen with fear.

"I'm running out of patience, tubby," the Turtle snarled, his emerald eyes filled with rage. "We need to find Thanos _now_. My brothers' lives depend on it, and I'll dispose of _anyone_ who gets in my way."

Bellybomb looked at Bishop and Mikey. They merely stood aside and let Raph threaten him like that, and he instantly realized how serious this was. He sighed in defeat and sat back in his booth. "Alright, fine," he said. "I'll tell you everything. About two weeks ago, I dropped by Knowhere to sell this rare artifact to the Collector."

"The Collector?" Mikey gasped, remembering the guy to whom the Guardians almost sold the Power Stone. "Did he have white hair and dressed like a pimp?"

"Yeah," Bellybomb moved his eyeball up and down in a nod. "Nice guy. A bit eccentric. And I'm thinkin' he was a homo-"

_"Focus!"_ Raph yelled. "You were meeting with this Collector guy when...?"

"I was in the middle of makin' a sweet deal when..." The cyclops shivered. "...when the big guy, himself, showed up. Oh, man. I'm telling ya, it was _horrible_. I was lucky to get out _alive_. But I don't know where he went after that, I swear."

"Did he ever state his business?" Bishop asked.

"Uh," Bellybomb scratched his chin in thought, "He said somethin' about...a Stone of Reality? My memory is kinda fuzzy."

Bishop immediately understood. "The Reality Stone."

Bellybomb looked at the Utrom shocked. "Wait. An Infinity Stone? Look, I know it ain't my business, but y'all ain't seriously thinkin' about goin' up against Thanos, are ya?"

"So what if we are?" Raph gruffed.

"I'm just sayin'," the cyclops warned, "if the big guy did get all of the Infinity Stones, then there's no point in even tryin', 'cause with one snap of his fingers..." He snapped his own fingers for emphasis. "...poof. Game over for y'all."

Mikey gulped. The more he learned about Thanos, the more nervous he became.

But Raph merely scoffed. "Yeah, we'll keep that in mind," he said sarcastically as he headed toward the exit.

* * *

**Week 2**

The trio traveled to a planet called Zen-Whoberi, one of the thousands of worlds that had been invaded by Thanos. They entered a small city and the citizens there seemed peaceful and greeted them with friendly smiles, though Mikey could sense a sad aurora around them. Bishop asked around for any information on Thanos, but no one had seen or heard from him in years. As he looked around, Mikey took note of physical features of the Zehoberei: green skin and dark hair with reddish tips, just like...

He jumped when he felt someone tap his shell and quickly turned around. A little girl with short wavy hair looked up at the Turtle with curious eyes. Mikey smiled at her gently and knelt down to be at her level.

"Hey, there, dudette," he said softly. "What's your name?"

"Leema," the girl said with a shy smile.

"Hey, Leema. I'm Mikey."

"What kind of a creature are you?" Leema asked as she touched the scaly skin on his hands.

"I'm a turtle."

"What's a 'turtle'?"

"Only the coolest reptiles ever. Here, watch this." Mikey pulled his head and limbs back into his shell.

Leema gasped and then giggled excitedly when Mikey popped back out.

"And that's not the only thing I can do." He did a couple of backflips and then did a spin on his shell.

The little girl clapped her hands as she laughed in amusement. Her laughter caught the attention of a woman who was buying fruit at a market stand. She quickly paid before she rushed over to Leema and grabbed her hand.

"Leema!" she scolded. "What have I told you about talking to strangers?"

"No, it's okay, ma'am," Mikey assured her. "I wouldn't hurt her." He then noticed something familiar about the woman. Something about her face. "Say, you wouldn't happen to know Gamora, would you?"

The woman looked surprised at the mention of that name. "Gamora? Well, yes. She was my cousin."

Mikey's eyes went big. "No way! Gamora's your _cousin_?! That's awesome!"

"I...I'm sorry, but how do _you_ know her?" the woman asked.

"Gamora's like a big sister to me!" Mikey said with a big smile. "She and I saved the universe _twice_!"

The woman was amazed by this. "So she survived," she said in a quiet voice.

The smile on Mikey's face dropped. "Survived what?"

...

After Mikey introduced Raph and Bishop to the woman, whose name was Maiel, they followed her to a large field...

...with hundreds of tombstones, all decorated with memorial flowers.

Maiel bowed her head both in respect and sorrow. "This is the grave of the ones who were slaughtered by Thanos years ago. And there are even more across the entire planet."

Mikey looked at the graveyard in horror. "Why?" he whispered. "Why did he do this?"

"To bring balance, as he put it," Maiel said as she lifted her face. "He would travel from one city to the next, round up half of the population, and then execute them. I was only a child when it happened, but I remember it well..."

...

_She and her parents held hands as they were being escorted by strange soldiers, the likes of which she had never seen before. Houses around her were burning and they had to step over a few bodies that were bleeding on the ground._

_Suddenly, she felt her mother's hand being pulled out of her grasp and she looked up to see two soldiers dragging her away as she screamed. Her father tried to save her but was being pushed back by a soldier with a spear. Seeing that it was futile to resist and that he needed to focus on protecting his daughter, he picked Maiel up and held her in his arms as he followed the others. _

_Half of the city was forced to stand on one side of the main road while the other half was pushed away to the other side. Maiel cried and reached out to her mother but her father kept a strong hold on her. She glanced to the side and saw her cousin Gamora standing in front of a large purple-skinned man in armor. He knelt down and they exchanged a few words before she took his hand and followed him to a pavilion. He then pulled out a small knife and let her play with it. _

_Then Maiel heard a man loudly say, "Now go in peace...and meet your maker."_

_She turned her head back to the other half of the city when she heard guns being fired. Her father quickly shielded her eyes with his hand, but not before she saw her mother drop to the ground._

_..._

"My mother and hundreds of others were killed that day, and I never saw Gamora again," Maiel finished the story with tears in her eyes.

Mikey's heart broke for Maiel and the people of this planet, and for Gamora, who was taken from her home and forced to work for Thanos. He remembered her mentioning her adoptive father a few times, but they never really talked about him. He learned during his second adventure with the Guardians that it was Thanos who turned Nebula into a cyborg.

Raph released a heavy sigh and shook his head. "This guy is crazy," he muttered in disgust.

"Many to this day are still too afraid to have children," Maiel said somberly. "We don't want to rebuild our families, only to have them destroyed by Thanos once again. I still have nightmares of him returning and taking Leema from me. All mothers on this planet carry the same fear in their hearts."

Mikey walked over to her and touched her arm. "Well, we're going to make sure that never happens again, 'cause we're gonna find him and make him pay for all the terrible things he's ever done."

Maiel looked at Turtle with a sad smile. "Thank you, but it's impossible to defeat Thanos."

Mikey grinned confidently. "Hey, my bros and I have done the impossible before."

...

They spent the night at Maiel's house, where Mikey told Leema stories of his adventures with the Guardians. They left early the next morning to continue their search, and Mikey promised to come back and play with Leema again and maybe even teach her a few lessons in ninjutsu.

* * *

**Week 3**

Mikey sighed as he plopped himself down on the couch both exhausted and disheartened. Raph grumbled something under his breath before he punched the wall and stormed off into his room.

They had spent three weeks in space and visited dozens of worlds, but they never found Thanos. And everyone they talked to either didn't know anything or were too scared to talk. Of course, they're weren't about give up and would search forever for him if they had to, but it was extremely tiring and frustrating.

The youngest Hamato brother closed his eyes as drifted off to sleep...

...

_He found himself standing in the middle of a wheat field. It seemed to stretch into infinity and he was all alone, but he swore that he heard small, distant voices as the wind gently blew. He looked up at the sky, which was oddly yellow and fluffy white clouds floated above his head, but the sun was missing, which was even more strange. _

_When he looked back to the field, he saw someone in the distance walking toward the horizon. He had to squint his eyes to see who it was._

_"Gamora?" he gasped. He smiled big and started to run after his friend. "Gamora!" He ran as fast as he could and was getting closer to her. "Hey, Gamora! Wait up!"_

_Gamora stopped walking and turned around, then she raised her hand. "Stop!" she yelled._

_Mikey stopped dead in his tracks, utterly confused. "W-What?"_

_"Don't come any closer, Mikey," she warned him._

_"What's wrong?"_

_"Where I'm going, you can't follow."_

_"But...why not?"_

_There was a pause before Gamora said softly, "I'm sorry, Mikey." The young Turtle could see tears in her eyes, and before he could ask her any more questions, she turned and continued on her way. _

_He stood there for a moment, before he started to run after her again. "Gamora! Wait! Please! GAMORA!"_

_Suddenly at very quick pace, the sun arose from the horizon and shined so bright that Mikey had to shield his eyes, but he kept on running. When the glare went away and he could see again, he was suddenly heading straight toward the edge of a cliff and managed to stop himself before he could fall off. The bright yellow sky had turned dark as angry storm clouds formed and spat out lightening. He looked down into the deep abyss below and gulped as he slowly backed away..._

_...when his shell hit something hard._

_He swiftly turned around and a large armored hand grabbed him by the throat. He let out a strangled gasp as Thanos lifted him off the ground. _

_The Titan sneered at him as he held him over the abyss. "It's no use," he said. "I am...inevitable." _

_And then he dropped the Turtle, who screamed as he fell into the pit of darkness and death. _

_..._

"...id! Kid! Wake up!"

Mikey woke up panting and drenched in cold sweat, and it took him a couple of seconds to realize that his old friend Rocket was standing next to the couch.

The raccoon looked at him with worried brown eyes. "You okay, kid?"

Mikey blinked. "Rocket...?"

Rocket smiled a little. "Hey, Mike. How ya been?"

"...ROCKET!" the Turtle cried out joyously as he picked up the raccoon and hugged him tight. "Dude, I'm so happy to see you!"

Rocket chuckled softly and patted his friend's arm. "Me, too, kid. I'm glad Thanos didn't get you."

At the mention of that name, Mikey's joy turned to dread and he put Rocket down. "You...you mean the others...?"

Rocket lowered his gaze to the floor and his ears flattened. "Yeah," he said in a low, sad voice. "You and I are the only Guardians left."

"Even...Groot?" Mikey choked.

Rocket simply nodded.

Mikey covered his face with his hand and let out a trembling sigh. He had been holding onto the hope that the Guardians somehow survived and would come to help him fix all of this, but his already broken heart shattered upon learning that they had vanished, as well.

"Leo and Donnie are gone, too," he said. "So are most of my friends." He lowered his hand and looked at Rocket with eyes full of tears. "Why did this happen, Rocket?"

Rocket shook his head. "I don't know. But it should never have happened."

Mikey sniffled and cleared his throat. "Anyway, what are you doing here in New York? And how did you find me?"

"Well..."

"Hey, Mikey," Raph yawned as he walked into the room. "Am I hearing things or is someone in-?" He froze and his eyes went big when he spotted Rocket, obviously surprised to see him in the lair.

Rocket greeted him with a nod and grin. "Hey. Raph, right?"

Raph stared at him for a moment before he angrily narrowed his eyes. "Oh, great," he said in an irritated tone. "What are _you_ doing here?"

The raccoon frowned. "Yeah, nice to see you, too," he grumbled.

"Look, if you're here to take Mikey on another stupid space trip, it's gonna have to wait. We just lost our family."

"Yeah, well, I lost my family, too," Rocket snapped. "As did everyone else thanks to Thanos."

Raph crossed his arms and scoffed. "Tell me something I don't know," he said bitterly.

Rocket cleared his throat and turned back to Mikey. "Anyway, I told the Avengers that I needed your help so they tracked you here."

Mikey's jaw dropped. Did he hear the raccoon right? "The Avengers? You-You mean...as in _the_ Avengers?"

"Well, sure," Rocket shrugged. "I mean, are there any other Avengers I don't know about?"

Raph couldn't believe what he was hearing either and walked up to the raccoon. "You're serious? Earth's greatest heroes sent _you_ to recruit us?"

"No," Rocket nodded to Mikey. "Just him. I only need your brother."

Of course, Raph instantly became angry. He had dreamt of meeting Iron Man, Captain America, and the Hulk for years. He wasn't going to let an opportunity as momentous as this just pass by. And he wanted to save Leo and Donnie as much as Mikey did. "Well, I'm coming, too," he declared.

Rocket snorted and shook his head. "No, I don't think so."

The enraged Turtle reached for the raccoon's throat. "Listen here, you-!"

"Raph!" Mikey grabbed him before he could touch Rocket and held him back. "Bro, calm down! Let me talk to him, okay?!"

With a frustrated sigh, Raph relented and waited impatiently as Mikey led Rocket into the kitchen.

"Well, he's a charmer," Rocket muttered sarcastically.

"You get used to it," Mikey said. "Rocket, have a heart and let him come with us."

"Why should I? I just met him and I already hate him. You sure you two are even related?"

"Well, when we first met, you weren't exactly nice to me, either. But I tolerated your attitude and worked with you, didn't I?"

Rocket rolled his eyes and sighed, remembering how poorly he treated the Turtle on their first adventure together. "Yeah, you did," he reluctantly agreed.

"So can you tolerate Raph for a little while?" Mikey pleaded. "For me?"

"Yeah, fine," Rocket grumbled as he crossed his arms. "But I can't promise you that I won't blast him before all of this is over."

Mikey chuckled and nodded. "Sure, dude."


	2. Chapter 2

**NOTE: There will probably be grammar mistakes that I will fix later. **

"Holy crap," James Rhodes gasped as Mikey and Raph followed Rocket into the living area of the facility.

"Guys, this is Michelangelo," Rocket introduced his reptilian friend to the remaining Avengers who survived the Snap. "The Ninja Turtle and fellow Guardian I told you about. Oh, yeah, and his brother, Ralph."

"It's 'Raph'," Raph growled behind him.

Mikey became starry-eyed as he stood before the world's greatest heroes: Captain America, Black Widow, Thor, and War Machine. Meeting them in person was a dream come true. There was a woman with long blonde hair that was also present in the room, but he didn't recognize her. He smiled shyly and waved at them. "Hi, Avengers. Big fan."

"Wow." Rhodes stared at the two mutant Turtles in amazement. "Just...wow. How much radiation did _you_ guys consume?"

"We appreciate you coming," Steve Rogers stepped forward and shook Mikey's hand then Raph's. He didn't seem to be intimidated by the mutants at all and flashed them a friendly grin. "We need all the help we can get. I hear that you're quite the warriors."

Mikey blushed a little and nodded. "Y-Yes, sir."

Thor was puzzled by the strange creatures that were neither human nor animal. "Are you two devils? Or spawns of the Midgard Serpent?"

"What? No, we're just mutants," Raph told him.

"But not the X-Men kind," Mikey added. "See, we used to be normal turtles until one day this alien ooze called mutagen changed us into _this_. Our Sensei was human before he mutated into a rat and we lived in the sewers-"

"Mikey," Raph cut him off, "the Avengers don't want to hear our whole backstory. They're not interested."

"No, I'm interested," Bruce Banner stepped into the room and was intrigued by what he saw. "Very much interested." He walked up to them and took Raph's wrist, studying the scaly skin on his arm. "Incredible. So you say that you're the product of alien experimentation?"

Raph pulled his arm away. "Hey, watch it, nerd!" he said angrily. "I'm not some frog that you can study, so keep your hands to yourself!"

Bruce smiled apologetically. "Sorry." Then he offered his hand for Raph to shake. "I'm Bruce Banner. But most people know me as the, uh, Hulk."

Raph's eyes nearly popped right out of his sockets. "The Hulk? _You're_ the Hulk?"

Bruce nodded. "Yep."

Raph instantly regretted insulting the scientist and chuckled nervously as he took a couple of steps back. "Heh, I, uh, I was kidding about calling you a 'nerd'. Really."

The human looked a little embarrassed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Actually, uh, right now, I can't change into the Hulk, no matter how angry I get."

"Really?" Mikey asked. "Why not?"

"Not really sure, but it's an inconvenience."

"So you're just a nerd now?" Raph snorted, no longer afraid of the wimpy scientist. "Well, that's sucks."

A bit hurt by that remark, Bruce came up with a sadistic idea and suddenly yelled, "HULK SMASH!"

It worked and the Turtle screamed in fear as he stumbled backwards into an office chair, which rolled right into the table. When Bruce, Rhodes, and Mikey started to laugh, Raph realized that he had been tricked and grumbled, "Very funny."

Mikey then noticed that they were missing a crucial member, the one who started the Avengers. "Hey, where's Iron Man?"

The whole room grew quiet and there was tension in the air.

"Tony is asleep in another room," Natasha Romanoff said. "After he fought Thanos, he drifted in deep space for twenty-three days. He's being treated for his injuries and for malnutrition."

At the mention of the Titan's name, Raph's anger returned and his blood boiled. "Oh, yeah," he growled. "I almost forgot about Thanos."

"We spent three weeks in space looking for him," Mikey told the others. "Hope you guys had more luck than we did."

Rhodes shook his head. "No, we don't know where he is."

"I'll go find him," the blonde woman finally spoke up.

Raph looked at her with a raised eye ridge. "And you are...?"

"Carol Danvers," she said with a nod. "Captain Marvel."

"'Captain Marvel'? Never heard of you. Anyway, if _we_ couldn't find Thanos, what makes you think _you_ could?"

"I know people who might know where he is."

"Yeah?" Raph snorted and pointed to the ceiling. "Well, we have friends in high places, too, and they couldn't find _squat_. Plus a lot of people were too scared to talk."

Suddenly another female voice spoke up, "Don't bother."

Everyone turned to see Gamora's sister Nebula standing in the doorway.

"I can tell you where Thanos is," she told them.

"Nebula," Mikey gasped, surprised to see the cyborg with the Avengers.

Raph looked at his brother confused. "Who?"

"Nebula is Gamora's sister," Mikey explained. "The first time we met, she tried to kill me and the other Guardians, but she's on our side now." He walked over to Nebula and raised his hand for a high-five. "'Sup, Neb? How you been, girl?"

Nebula briefly looked at him with cold eyes before she walked right past him and continued to talk to the Avengers. "Thanos spent a long time trying to perfect me. And when he worked, he talked about his great plan. Even disassembled, I wanted to please him. I'd ask where would we go once his plan was complete. His answer was always the same, 'To the Garden'."

Mikey tilted his head. "The 'Garden'?"

"That's cute," Rhodes said. "Thanos has a retirement plan."

"So where is he?" Steve asked.

Rocket climbed onto the table and activated a device that projected a hologram of Earth. "When Thanos snapped his fingers, Earth became ground zero for a power surge of ridiculously cosmic proportions. No one's ever seen anything like it...until two days ago." Another planet appeared in the hologram. "On _this_ planet."

Mikey walked up to the table, staring at the hologram. "So Thanos is _there_."

"He used the Stones again," Natasha concluded.

"Hey, hey, hey, we'd be going in short-handed, you know," Bruce warned.

Rhodes was a bit nervous, too. "Look, he's still got the Stones, so-"

"So let's get him," Carol said unfazed. "Use them to bring everyone back."

"Just like that?"

Steve nodded in agreement. "Yeah, just like that."

"Even if there's a small chance that we can undo this," Natasha said. "I mean, we owe it to everyone who's not in this room to try."

Bruce was still reluctant. "If we do this, how do we know it's gonna end any differently than it did before?"

"Because before, you didn't have me," Carol stated.

Raph looked at her appalled. "What?!" he said incredulously. "Oh, okay, Miss High and Mighty, if you're so important to the team, then where were you?!"

Carol stared at him hard. "There are a lot of other planets in the universe. And unfortunately, they didn't have you guys."

Everyone else in the room was affected by her words. Except Raph, who just glared at her.

"And _this_ planet needed _you_," he pointed out.

"Alright," Steve stepped in between them, "let's just calm down. We'll settle this some other time. Right now...let's go get this son of a bitch."

* * *

The whole team was now aboard the spaceship the _Benatar_ and as it was leaving Earth, Rocket, who was the pilot, turned to the others. "Okay, who here hasn't been to space?"

Steve, Natasha, and Rhodes raised their hands.

"Why?" Rhodes asked.

"You better not throw up on my ship," Rocket grumbled.

Nebula began the countdown for the jump point. "Approaching jump in three...two...one!"

"Ooh, boy." Mikey held his breath and squeezed the arms of his seat as the ship flew through a jump point and let out a big sigh of relief once it was over and they arrived at their destination.

"That wasn't so bad," Raph said with a shrug. "Kinda fun actually."

Mikey chuckled weakly. His brother didn't know of the 700 jump that he did four years ago. "Yeah, fun."

With her powers, Carol was able to breathe in space and she flew out of the ship. "I'll head down for recon," she told the crew before she darted into the planet.

Raph scoffed as he watched her leave. "Captain Barbie thinks she's so tough, but Mona's tougher."

"Oh, yeah?" Mikey teased. "Why don't you say that to her face, then?"

"I'm not that stupid, Mikey." He paused before he asked Rocket, "She can't hear us, right?"

Rocket shrugged with a grin. "I dunno. Maybe?"

"That's not funny!" Raph snapped.

"Can you believe it, Raph?" Mikey whispered excitedly to his brother. "We're saving the world with the Avengers! If only Leo and Donnie were here. They'd be geeking out, too!"

Raph didn't share Mikey's enthusiasm and looked at the planet with a troubled expression. "But what if we never save the world? You heard what Bishop said: Thanos is always one step ahead of everybody. He might have one more trick up his sleeve, and if that's the case, we're screwed."

Although he had his own doubts, Mikey tried to stay optimistic and gave his brother's shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "It'll be okay, bro. With all of us working together, we can do anything."

Carol suddenly reappeared before the ship. "No satellites. No ships. No armies. No ground defenses of any kind. It's just him."

"Really?" Mikey asked. This could be easier than they thought.

Nebula remained impassive. "And that's enough."

...

As soon as they landed the ship in a field of strange crops, the Avengers wasted no time in charging toward the small farm where Thanos apparently lived. The Hamato brothers were the last to arrive at the Titan's small shed and were surprised by what they saw.

The person that the whole universe feared so much wore simple peasant clothing unfit for a mighty warlord and his entire left face was badly burnt. He was even missing his left arm, and judging from the blood that was dripping off Thor's axe, it was a fresh wound. Carol had him in a chokehold while Rhodes, who was in his War Machine suit, held onto his right arm, leaving him completely helpless and at their mercy.

At one point Thanos looked straight into Mikey's eyes and a shiver went down the Turtle's spine. The darkness and evil that he saw in the nightmare Thanos' eyes was there. He forced himself to glance away and helped Rocket to turn over the Infinity Gauntlet that was lying on the ground.

But to their horror, the Stones were missing.

Rocket looked up at Mikey dismayed. "Oh, no," he whispered.

"What?" Raph rushed to his brother's side. "What is it?"

"The Stones are gone," Miket softly said. Why did he think that it was going to easy?

Steve approached Thanos with an enraged expression. "Where are they?"

Carol choked the Titan even tighter. "Answer the question," she hissed.

Thanos grimaced and coughed. "The universe required correction," he said in a raspy voice. "After that, the Stones served no purpose beyond temptation."

Bruce marched up to Thanos in his Iron Hulk suit. "YOU MURDERED _TRILLIONS_!" he bellowed as he shoved the Titan to the floor.

"You should be grateful," Thanos argued weakly, which earned him a punch in the face from Bruce.

Natasha trembled with rage. "Where are the Stones?" she demanded.

"Gone," Thanos replied. "Reduced to atoms."

"You used them two days ago!" Bruce yelled.

"I used the Stones to destroy the Stones." He gestured to his scarred face. "It nearly killed me."

Mikey felt his heart drop to his stomach.

"You're lying," Raph growled as he reached for his sai. "If you want to live, tell us where they are. _Now!_"

But Thanos wasn't fazed. "Go ahead. Kill me. I've fulfilled my purpose. The work is done. It always will be." He sneered at them all. "I am...inevitable."

_I am inevitable. _

Thanos spoke those same exact words in Mikey's dream. It couldn't be a coincidence. What if it was Thanos' destiny to destroy half the universe with the Infinity Stones? And there was nothing they could do to change that?

Rhodes shook his head in denial. "We have to tear this place apart. He has to be lying!"

"My father is many things," Nebula stepped forward. "A liar is not one of them."

Thanos looked up at his adopted daughter and smiled. "Ah. Thank you, daughter. Perhaps I treated you too harshly."

This made Mikey finally snap and he grabbed Thanos by the collar of his shirt. "'Perhaps'?!" he shouted in the Titan's face. "You _tortured_ her! You ruined her life! Don't pretend that you love her or Gamora 'cause you _don't_! You don't love _anything_!"

Thanos seemed surprised by Mikey's words, then he chuckled weakly, which confused the young mutant. He looked directly at Nebula. "You didn't tell him."

"What?" Mikey turned to Nebula. "What's he talking about?"

Nebula was silent and there was sadness in her dark eyes, which made Mikey even more worried.

"Nebula, tell me," he urged. "What is he talking about?"

The cyborg finally spoke in a soft, pained voice as she lowered her gaze to the floor. "He killed Gamora for the Soul Stone."

Upon hearing those words, Mikey felt his whole world crumble and fall apart. He released Thanos' shirt in shock and stumbled back a few steps, staring blankly ahead as the horrible truth slowly sank in. "Gamora's..._dead_?" he choked.

There was remorse in Thanos' eyes as he spoke his final words. "It had to be done. You couldn't possibly understand-"

With one swipe of his axe, Thor cut Thanos' head clean off his shoulders. Mikey didn't even flinch or blink when the blood splattered all over his face and plastron. Everyone else stared at the thunder god in shock.

"What did you do?" Rocket said softly.

Thor was breathing heavily. "I went for the head," he said in a trembling voice before he started to walk toward the front door.

Raph snapped out of his shock and turned to the other Avengers. "Wait. Wait. We can just find another way to fix this, right?"

No one answered him. The atmosphere felt somber and gloomy.

Regardless, the Turtle pressed on. "I mean, you're the Avengers, the world's greatest heroes. You can do anything-"

"Kid," Rhodes put his hand on Raph's shoulder and looked at him with sad eyes, "we're not as invincible and omnipotent as you think. We can only do so much, and there's nothing we can do about _this_. It's over."

Raph couldn't believe what he was hearing and shook his head as he started to plead. "No, you...you can't give up. You can't. What about all those people? What about my brothers?"

All Rhodes could do was give him a sympathetic squeeze. "I'm sorry," he said with genuine remorse and then he walked out the door.

The mutant desperatedly looked around at everyone else. Steve, Natasha, Carol, and Bruce all looked utterly defeated. Mikey just stood where he was, still as a statue and not responding even after Rocket gently took his hand. Nebula knelt on the floor next to Thanos' head and closed his lifeless eyes.

It was then that he finally understood that his brothers were gone forever and that Thanos had won.

He fell to his knees a broken Turtle and wept.


	3. Chapter 3

**NOTE: There will probably be grammar mistakes that I will fix later. **

The first thing Mikey did when he came home was step into the shower and turn on the water.

The purple blood washed off his body and went down the drain, and he grabbed a bar of soap to scrub his plastron with. But he was so numb and lost in his thoughts that he repeatedly and slowly scrubbed the abdominal part only.

He couldn't stop thinking about Gamora. Did she die among friends or was she all alone? Was it quick and painless or did she suffer in her final moments? What really tore him apart was that he wasn't there with her and that he didn't get to say goodbye. And her own father killed her for a stupid space rock.

He also thought about his brothers and all the friends he lost. He was so convinced that he could bring them back with the Avengers' help, but Thanos ruined their one and only chance after he destroyed the Stones. And now trillions across the universe were never going to see their loved ones again.

The Turtle closed his eyes as he pressed his forehead against the tiled wall, the warm water running down his freckled cheeks like tears.

This was, by far, his greatest failure.

...

In the kitchen, Raph, Rocket, and Nebula all sat the table in silence.

Raph's eyes were red and puffy from crying and he stared down at the T-phone in his hands. There were six missed calls and eleven texts from April, but he didn't have the heart to tell her that Casey and her Dad were never coming back.

The depressed Rocket rested his chin on the table. He kept thinking about Groot in his final moments. He faded away in front of the raccoon looking scared and in pain, and the last thing he said before he disappeared forever was one word: "Dad".

Nebula was the only one who finally spoke. "I'm hungry," she said softly as she stood up from her chair. She walked to the fridge and opened the freezer. What she saw inside made her jump a little.

Ice Cream Kitty mewed curiously at her, blinking her little black eyes and tilting her head. She kindly offered Nebula a strawberry popsicle, which the cyborg reluctantly accepted before she closed the door. Oddly enough, as strange as that was, it wasn't the strangest thing she ever saw.

Mikey walked into the kitchen wearing nothing but a towel around his waist and he chuckled softly when he saw Nebula's reaction to his pet. "I see you've met Ice Cream Kitty. She's my pet." He then turned to Raph, who was still staring at his phone. "Raph, you want me to fix you something to eat?"

Raph merely shook his head.

"Rocket? You want something to eat?"

Rocket didn't even respond and just sighed.

"Nebula?"

"I'm good," Nebula said as she continued to eat her popsicle.

"Oh. Okay. Well, I'm not really hungry, myself, so, uh...I guess I'll go to my room. Just let me know if you need anything, okay?" When no one answered, he walked out of the kitchen and straight to his bedroom.

The whole lair felt cold, but he knew that he set the temperature to seventy-three degrees. He was about to pass by the dojo but he stopped for a moment to peek inside. As he looked into the empty room, his heart ached when he realized that there would no longer be any training sessions with Leo. With a soft, trembling sigh, he continued on his way.

As he walked into his room, his saw his old toy robot on top of one of the pillows on his bed. A lump formed in his throat as he sat down on the matress and picked it up. One day, when he was six years old, he accidentally broke the robot and it absolutely crushed him. Donnie saw how distraught his little brother was and took it upon himself to repair the toy. It took him a few days, but the young genius not only fixed it, he also did some modifications and made it even more fun to play with since it could now sproat aircraft wings and make laser sounds. Mikey was so happy and grateful to his brother that he couldn't stop hugging him all day.

With tears in his eyes, he pressed the small red button on the robot's chest, and its eyes flashed yellow as it made hight-pitched laser sounds. Sniffling, he hugged the toy close to his chest.

...

After sitting in front of the TV for four hours straight, Rocket decided to leave the lair for a short while and go explore the city that was Mikey's home. He figured he'd be back before the others woke up, but he left a note for Mikey just in case he didn't.

As soon as he crawled out of a manhole, his nose immediately picked up a delicious scent. He followed it to a hot dog stand on the sidwalk, and he still had some Earth money left that the Avengers generously gave him, so he decided to buy a little snack for himself.

He walked up to the vendor, who was handing a hot dog to a customer. "Hey, pal," he said. "I'll have one of those."

The vendor nodded. "Sure. You want it plain or-?" He turned around but didn't see anyone, which confused him. Then he happen to glance down and saw Rocket. His eyes got big at the sight of the raccoon and he quickly became angry and disgusted. "Hey!" he yelled and kicked at him. "Get outta here! Shoo! Get!"

Rocket backed away and began to protest. "Hey, wait-"

"Get outta here, ya filthy raccoon!" the man shouted and threw a discarded cardboard box at him.

Those words stunned Rocket. "'Raccoon'?" He snapped out of it when he felt an empty soda can hit him in the chest and made a run for it as the vendor continued to throw trash at him.

He ran into an alley where a homeless woman and her young daughter were dumpster diving. The woman didn't notice him but the little girl did and she stared at him with curious eyes. She smiled sweetly as she slowly approached him.

"Hi," she held out a peeled orange. "Are you hungry?"

He was touched by her kindness but could see that she needed it more than he did. Before he could say anything to her, the mother finally noticed him and pulled her daughter away.

"Lisa, stay away from it!" she screeched.

"But, Mommy...!" the girl pleaded.

"That's a raccoon, baby! It might bite you!"

_Raccoon._ That word again. Did he really look so much like the Earth rodent?

Seeing that he was not welcomed among humans, the dejected Rocket decided to go back to the lair and looked for a manhole. He was about to pass by a large pile of trash bags on the sidwalk when he heard a rustling noise. Curiosity got that best of him and he looked behind the pile.

A couple of street raccoons were digging through torn bags and feeding on garbage. One of them picked up Rocket's scent and looked directly at him with its dark eyes.

Rocket couldn't believe what he was seeing. These creatures, these _raccoons_ looked _exactly_ like him, and all this time he believed that he was a one of a kind.

Suddenly a van pulled up, its headlights nearly blinding Rocket, and two men stepped out with control poles. The wild raccoons snarled and growled but one of them was snagged while the other made its escape. Rocket watched in horror as the captured raccoon was lifted and thrown into a small cage.

One of them men saw Rocket and pointed. "Hey, there's another one."

Terrified, Rocket darted across the street with the man pursuing him. As he ran, he glanced back at the van, which had the label "ANIMAL CONTROL" on the side.

They all thought he was a wild animal. A disgusting street rodent.

He yelped when he felt the pole's noose tighten around his neck.

"Got it!" The man lifted him off the ground and carried him to the van.

"N...No...!" He struggled to talk but the noose was so tight he couldn't breathe and all he could do was kick and struggle. Is this how it was going to end for him? Euthanized like an unwanted street animal?

Then he saw someone running down the street and straight at the man who held him. The stranger snatched the pole right out of the man's hand and held Rocket under his arm as he continued to run.

"I got you, Rocket!"

Rocket immediately recognized that voice. "Mikey?"

The Turtle sprinted into an empty alley and put Rocket down, removing the noose from his neck. "Are you okay, dude?" he asked worriedly.

The raccoon rubbed his burning neck. Everything had happened so fast he didn't know what to think. "I...I don't know." He looked up at Mikey with sad eyes. "Mikey, they all think I'm a raccoon."

"Well, you look exactly like one," Mikey said. "Nobody here knows the difference. And that's why you need to lie low."

This only made Rocket even sadder. He was probably going to live on Earth for the rest of his life and he didn't want to spend it hiding in the sewers like he was some kind of monster. "But...I don't _want_ to lie low, Mike," he said softly. "I want to fit in."

Mikey looked at him sadly. "Me, too, Rock. But I'll never fit in 'cause I'm a mutant. We have to stick together, so don't go sneaking off again, okay?"

With his ears flattened, Rocket sighed deeply. "Okay."

...

Later that night, after Mikey went back to bed, Rocket rested on the couch, but he couldn't sleep. The images of all the angry and scared faces that he saw on the streets kept him awake. On Earth, he wasn't a Guardian of the Galaxy or even a person, but a lowly rodent.

Mikey's iPad happened to be on the coffee table so he picked it up and Goggled, "Raccoon". Images of wild raccoons popped up and he scrolled down the page, looking at them all. There were several pictures of raccoons snarling and even attacking humans. The general attitude toward raccoons was negative on this planet, and for good reason: raccoons were filthy, barbaric animals that fed on garbage and carried diseases.

He crawled off the couch and made his way to the bathroom, where he searched the cabinet for a mirror. He found one and looked at his reflection then at a photo of a snarling raccoon on the iPad. He made himself snarl and bare his teeth just like the one in the picture.

As he compared his reflection to the photo, he realized the horrible truth.

"I really _am_ a rodent," he mumbled sadly.

...

"Morning," Mikey yawned as he walked into the kitchen. To his surprise, only Nebula was at the table, drinking a cup of coffee with Ice Cream Kitty who was in a bowl next to her. "Hey, where's Raph and Rocket?"

"Your brother is still in his room," Nebula told him. "As for the fox, I don't know where he is."

"Uh-oh." The young Turtle instantly became worried for his furry friend and went to go look for him. "Rocket! Where are you, dude?" He approached the couch where he saw the raccoon last, but no one was there.

Then he checked the bathroom and was puzzled to discover his iPad on the floor. He turned the device on and it instantly led him to Google images of wild raccoons. Now Mikey was even more worried and hurried to Raph's room. He didn't even bother to knock and pushed the door open.

"Raph!" Mikey yelled. "Rocket's gone missing! I can't find-!"

He froze when he saw his brother packing a suitcase on the floor. Chompy, who had grown to the size of a Great Dane, was on the bed chewing on an old sock and he wagged his tail excitedly when he saw Mikey.

"Raph, what are you doing?" Mikey asked the older Turtle.

Raph didn't look up at him and continued to pack his things. "I'm leaving, Mikey," he said softly.

"W-What?" Mikey couldn't have heard him right. "You're-You're _leaving_?"

Raph nodded. "Yeah."

"W-Well, where are you going?"

"To the old farmhouse. Mona's moving in there with me."

"But _why_?"

Raph slammed the suitcase shut and stood up to face Mikey. There was sadness and defeat in his eyes. "I can't stay here any longer, Mikey." He picked up the suitcase and walked right past Mikey. "Come on, Chompy."

The space turtle jumped off the bed and followed his master down the hall.

"Raph, wait!" Mikey ran after his brother. "Just wait a minute! Let's talk about this first!"

"You can't change my mind," Raph stated as he walked into the living room. "I'm going."

Mikey wasn't going to give up and continued to plead with him. "But this is your _home_! You can't just leave!"

Raph finally stopped at the turnstiles and had his shell to Mikey before he slowly turned around. "No, Mikey," his eyes glistened with tears. "Without Leo and Donnie, it's just not home anymore. Now it's just a place full of painful memories."

Mikey stared at him in disbelief, and his own eyes to water. "But," he whispered, "_I_ need you here."

There was a pause before Raph walked down the steps and touched Mikey's shoulder. "You know, you can come with me," he offered with a small smile. "We could all live together in the farmhouse and start over."

Mikey was stuck. Raph was now the only family he had left and he wanted to move away, but Rocket was somewhere in the city, possibly lost or even hurt. He was tempted to leave it all behind and start over like Raph said, but his friendship with the raccoon was stronger than that temptation. And although he's follow his brother to the ends of the world, his friend still needed him.

He bit his lower lip and looked down at the floor. "I can't leave Rocket," he quietly said.

There was silence for a moment before Raph removed his hand from Mikey's shoulder and said calmly, "I see."

When Mikey lifted his head, Raph was looking at him with eyes full of hurt and betrayal, which broke the younger Turtle's heart and he reached a hand out to his brother. "Raph..."

But Raph turned his back to him and stormed up the steps. Chompy followed him into the tunnel, but not before he gave Mikey a sad glance and a whimper.

Once Raph and Chompy were gone, Mikey sat down on the couch and buried his face in his hands, feeling so lost. Everything was falling apart and his whole family was gone. At that very moment, he wished that Thanos had snapped him away, too, because it was all too much for him to bear.

He heard footsteps approaching him and quickly looked up, hoping that Raph had changed his mind. But it was Nebula, and there was sympathy in her normally cold eyes. Without saying a word, she down next to him.

"Do you want to leave, too?" he croaked. "I wouldn't blame ya." After all, why would she stay here in the sewers with him? She could just move into the Avengers facility, which was much cleaner, and this once lively and fun lair was now just a sad and lonely dump.

But then she gently placed a hand on his shell. "I'd rather stay here with you."

He looked at her surprised. "Really?"

"As much as I hate to admit it, you're the closest thing to a friend I have, and I'd rather be with a friend than to live among strangers."

With a heart full of so much gratitude, Mikey pulled her into a tight hug. "Thank you," he whispered as a tear slipped down his cheek.

Nebula became stiff and awkwardly patted his shell. She still wasn't used to being hugged, but it felt kind of nice, even though she wouldn't admit it.


	4. Chapter 4

**NOTE: There will probably be grammar mistakes that I will fix later. **

_**Two years later...**_

"So what do you think?" April asked Nebula as they walked out of the movie theater together.

Nebula shrugged. "I've seen better effects, and the acting was mediocre."

April chuckled. "Yeah, I agree."

The cyborg wore a blue coat and a grey beanie whenever she left the sewers to hide her abnormalities from other people, but some would still stare at her because of her blue skin and large dark eyes. Of course she already knew that she'd never really fit in and it didn't bother her much.

April no longer wore her red hair in a ponytail and let it flow down her back. She now worked for Channel Six as a sound technician and lived in her own apartment, but she would visit Mikey whenever she could. She had also become friends with Nebula and taught her all about human culture and life in the big city.

"So, uh, how's Mikey been doing?" she asked Nebula.

"Fine," Nebula simply said.

April was about to ask her another question when they heard angry shouting. A crowd was confronting a small group of Thanos supporters at the New York Public Library.

"Oh, no," she groaned. "Not again."

One supporter, a young woman with short brunette hair, held up a picket sign that said, _**THANOS DID US A FAVOR!**_ Someone from the angry crowd threw an empty soda can at her. "Hey, you a**hole!"

"How could you defend that monster?!" a man from the crowd angrily shouted. "Are you crazy?!"

A young man with long hair shouted back, "He saved us from overpopulation!"

"He murdered our families!" an Asian-American woman shrieked. "Our _children_! And you're _thanking_ him?!"

"They were going to die anyway because of climate change!" a girl with blue-dyed hair argued. "But now the rest of us have a chance!"

A middle-aged African American man pointed an accusing finger at her. "I should've known you tree-hugging hippies would defend Thanos!"

Two patrol cars pulled up to the sidewalk and four policemen stood in between the angry citizens and the Thanos supporters to keep things from escalating even further.

April sighed and looked at them with disgust. So many crazy people believed that what Thanos did was a good thing and were grateful to him, and there were even cults that would do atrocious things in his name, including murder. There was a Thanos cult that terroized the city and its citizens, and without the help of his brothers, Karai, and the rest of the Mutanimals, Mikey couldn't fight them all, plus his mental state was...well, he hadn't been the same since the Snap.

Nebula watched the crowd with sad eyes. Her father said that eradicating half the population would bring balance and harmony, but all she saw was chaos and suffering.

"Man, those Thanos worshippers are nuts, right?"

The girls both turned around to see a former-enemy-turned-friend leaning against the brick wall of a small building.

"Bebop?" April gasped.

The warthog grinned as he walked over to where they stood. "'Sup, O'Neil?"

"Hey," she laughed as she gave him a hug. "We haven't seen you in a long time. How have you been?"

Bebop shrugged. "Ah, you know, I'm hangin' in there." He then noticed Nebula. "And who's this pretty lady?"

"This is Nebula," April gestured to the cyborg, who greeted the mutant with a slight nod. "Hey, where's Rocksteady?"

The grin on Bebop's face dropped and his eye ridges arched upward as he bowed his head.

April instantly understood and covered her mouth. "Oh, no," she said softly. "Don't tell me..."

Bebop sadly nodded. "Yep. Thanos got him, too."

"Bebop, I'm..." she gently touched his arm, "I'm so sorry."

"Yeah, well," he cleared his throat and looked up at her, "Rock wouldn't like it if I sat on my butt and moped all day. He would've wanted me to keep on fightin' bad guys and protectin' this city, so I do. Just yesterday I stopped these cats from robbin' a bank."

April smiled sympathetically at him and patted his arm. "That's good. You're moving on. Not everyone is capable of doing that."

"Yeah," Bebop glanced back at the crowd, "it's like everywhere I turn, I see nothin' but sad faces. And the crazy thing is, it's not just New York; it's the whole world." He lowered his head again. "I don't know why this happened. All I know is that my best buddy is gone forever."

There was a moment lf silence before Bebop's snout started sniffling and his lips quivered.

"I really miss Rock, yo," he croaked before he covered his face with his hands as he began to cry.

Tears filled April's eyes as she embraced the sobbing warthog and soothingly rubbed his back. "I know, Bebop. I'm so sorry."

...

Mikey sat on the floor in the entertainment center, hugging his knees close to his chest and rocking back in forth with a crazed look in his eyes. Lying on the floor next to him was a throw pillow that had a pair of googly eyes glued onto it.

A deranged smile formed on his lips and he chuckled. "Hey, Mr. Pillow?" He picked up the pillow and spoke in a high-pitched voice, _"Yeah, Mikey?" _"You wouldn't run off and leave me all alone, would you?" _"Of course not! Friends don't leave!" _"That's right! Friends stick together no matter what!" He hugged the pillow. "At least I still have you and Ice Cream Kitty."

At that moment, April and Nebula walked into the lair and saw Mikey having another one of his episodes. They both rolled their eyes and shook their heads. Last time he acted like this, Mikey put a wig on a lamp and called it "Phyllis".

Nebula stepped into the entertainment center and tapped Mikey on the shoulder. "Michelangelo?"

The Turtle whipped his head around and was suprised to see the cyborg. He smiled ear to ear and grabbed her in a tight hug. "NEBULA!" he shouted. "You're back! I thought I'd never see you again!" He acted as if he hadn't seen her in years, when, in actuality, it had only been two hours.

Nebula sighed and pushed him off. "I told you I'd be back. We just went to the movies."

Mikey blinked a couple of times before he grinned. "Ohhhh, that's right. You did say that."

"Mikey," April spoke softly as she pointed to the pillow on the floor, "you did it again."

He looked back at the pillow and groaned, "Aw, man. I did, didn't I? Sorry."

"You can't have a nervous breakdown every time I go out," Nebula scolded.

"I _know_, but I can't help it!"

"We know, Mikey," April walked up to him and patted him on the arm. "Everyone's still hurting over what happened, and it'll take time to heal. But you can't keep doing this to yourself."

Mikey sighed deeply. "Let's face it: I'm going crazy."

"You're not crazy. You're just...going through a tough time."

Suddenly Mikey started talking in the high-pitched voice again. _"Oh, he's crazy, alright. He's coocoo for Coco Puffs."_ He glared at the lamp in the corner that wore the wig over its shade. "No one asked for _your_ opinion, Phyllis!" he yelled in his normal voice, then he turned back to April. "But she's right: I do need help."

"Well, why don't you go out for some fresh air?" April suggested. "It could do you some good. Besides, you still need to find Rocket, right?"

At the mention of the raccoon's name, Mikey's eyes became sad and his shoulders slumped. "It's been two years, April," he said. "I looked _everywhere_. As much as I hate to admit it, he's probably dead by now."

The redheart's heart broke for the Turtle. She had known Mikey for years and until recently she had never seen him give up so easily and become so disheartened. The Snap had changed everyone, even Mikey, the most optimistic, sunny-spirited person she ever met.

They heard someone step into the lair and say in a loud voice, "Yo, yo! Mondo is in da house!"

Mondo Gecko had traded his skater boy attire for a black turtleneck and a pair of blue jeans and gave up his skateboard, though he kept his cool-dude attitude. He had also developed a crush on Nebula and constantly flirted with her, though the cyborg didn't feel the same way about him and it annoyed her.

He glanced at Nebula and pretended to be surprised. "Oh, hi, Nebula. I didn't know you'd be here, too."

Nebula cast him a dirty look. "Of course you knew, lizard: I _live_ here."

Mondo chuckled. "Oh, yeah, I forgot." He pulled out a heart-shaped box from behind his back. "By the way, I bought this box of chocolates on the way over here. There's plenty for both of us. Wanna share?" he asked with a wink.

"Pass," Nebula huffed and looked the other way, giving him the cold shoulder.

"I love chocolate!" Mikey said with a big grin. "I'll share those with ya, Mondo!"

Mondo looked at him annoyed. "Nah, I hate chocolate." He tossed the box to the Turtle, who easily caught it. "Help yourself."

...

"I keep telling you, Mondo, she's just not into you like that."

Later that night, Mikey and Mondo decided to do some shopping at the former's favorite comic book store, in their disguises, of course. The Turtle wore a long raincoat and fedora hat while the gecko wore shades and a Jamaican hat with fake dreadlocks.

Monda scoffed as he picked out a graphic novel. "Whatever. She totally digs me. She's just playing hard to get, which makes her even hotter."

Mikey rolled his eyes. "Sure, dude." He then noticed a familiar face on the cover of a comic book. "Huh. A _Space Heroes_ comic. I thought they stopped publishing these." He smiled to himself as he remembered how much Leo loved the show. His brother did not miss a single episode and memorized every line that Captain Ryan ever quoted. "Leo really loved that show," he told Mondo.

"You really miss your bros, huh?" Mondo asked softly.

Mikey nodded. "Yeah. I miss them a lot. I also miss Casey, Karai, Leatherhead..." He swallowed around a lump in his throat. "...Rocket and the other Guardians."

"You haven't found that raccoon dude yet?"

"No," Mikey shook his head. He then sighed heavily. "Everyone I care about keeps disappearing. Now I'm totally scared of being all alone, and whenever Nebula leaves the sewers, even for just a few minutes, I go crazy. Pathetic, right?"

Mondo gave him a sympathetic pat on the shell. "Nah, man. Not at all."

After they paid for their books, the two mutants walked out of the store and started down the sidewalk when a scuffling noise in the alley caught their attention. They peeked in and saw a pair of raccoons eating out of a trash bag that had been ripped open.

Mikey squinted. One of them looked like a completely normal raccoon, but there was something...off about the other one. He took a few slow steps toward the feeding rodents and looked closer.

_Don't get your hopes up,_ he told himself. _After all, it's been two years._

But then he saw the scars and implants on the second raccoon's back.

His eyes became big and his heart skipped a beat. "...Rocket?"

At the sound of his voice, both raccoons stopped eating and looked up at him. He stared at the second one's face and instantly recognized him.

It was really him. He was as naked and filthy as any other raccoon, but it was him. No doubt about it.

The Turtle grinned ear to ear and ran to his old friend with arms wide open. "ROCKET!" he shouted joyously.

The other raccoon scurried away and hid behind a trash can, but Rocket stayed where he was, and just as Mikey bent down to hug him, he slouched over and began to snarl and growl, warning him to stay away.

Mikey froze, utterly confused by the raccoon's reaction. "Rocket?"

The fur on Rocket's back stood up and his tail became poofy as he slowly back into the wall. Didn't he recognize him at all?

_Maybe it's the hat_, Mikey figured, so he took it off his head. "Rocket, it's _me_, Mikey."

But Rocket still looked at him like he was a stranger or even a threat and continued to bare his teeth.

Mikey scratched his head. Why was he acting like this? Why wasn't he talking? And why was he running around naked and eating somebody else's garbage?

"Uh, Mike?" Mondo spoke up from behind, "I don't think that's your pal."

The Turtle shook his head. "No, it's him. I _know_ it is." He slowly stretched out his hand to the angry and scared raccoon. "Rocket, you've _got_ to remember me," he softly pleaded. "Remember the Kyln? The Infinity Stone? Ronan? The Sovereign? _Anything_?"

Then out of the blue, Rocket leapt at Mikey and viciously attacked him. The Turtle screamed in pain as the raccoon bit his left shoulder before he sprinted down the alley and toward Mondo, who yelped and got out of the way. Rocket ran across the street and disappeared out of sight.

The gecko ran to his friend, who was sitting on the ground visibly shaken and holding his bleeding shoulder. "Mikey, you okay?!"

Mikey stared blankly ahead and nodded slightly. "Yeah, I'm...okay."

"Man, that was _crazy_! You think he's got rabies? 'Cause if he does, we need to get you treated for that bite immediately!" Mondo pulled on Mikey's arm, but the Turtle wouldn't move.

"Why did he attack me like that?" Mikey wondered out loud.

"'Cause he's a raccoon!" Mondo said. "That's what raccoons do!"

"But's he's not a raccoon. I mean, not really."

"Well, he looks like a raccoon, he acts like a raccoon, he even _smells_ like a raccoon. So what does that make him, a _poodle_?"

Mikey shook his head. "I dunno why he's acting like this. It's not like him. He obviously needs our help," he stood up and faced Mondo with a determined expression, "and we're gonna go look for him."

**Just to clear things up, I don't think that all climate-change activists would defend Thanos' actions or even think that way. The Thanos supporters in this story are just crazy people. **


	5. Chapter 5

**NOTE: There will probably be grammar mistakes that I will fix later. **

_"And what's your name?"_

_"My name is None-Of-Your-Beeswax-And-You'd-Better-Scram-Or-I'll-Kick-Your-Ass."_

_..._

_"Well, I didn't ask to get made! I didn't ask to be torn apart and put back together over and over and turned into some...some little monster!"_

_..._

_"I'd be a little less scared if my bros were with me. We face every danger together, but this time I'm facing it alone."_

_"You're not really alone, kid. I mean, you got us. I know we ain't your family, but...you know."_

_..._

_"He didn't chase them away. Even though he yelled at them. And was always mean. And he stole batteries he didn't need."_

_"You're not getting rid of us that easily, dude, even though you're a grouchy, greedy trash panda."_

_..._

_"I'll, uh...I'll miss you."_

_..._

"ROCKET!"

"YO, RACCOON DUDE!"

For the next several hours, well into the morning, Mikey and Gecko looked for the lost raccoon, searching in every alley and through every dumpster they could find. They asked some pedestrians if they had seen a raccoon with strange scars on its back, and one elderly woman confirmed that she saw one in Central Park begging for scraps under a bridge. But by the time they arrived there, he was already gone.

Mikey stood under the bridge and kicked an empty soda can in frustration. "Darn it!"

"I know, right?" Mondo picked up the can and tossed it into a recycling bin. "I hate it when people litter. Is it so hard to keep the planet clean?"

"No, Mondo," Mikey grumbled. "We lost him again."

"Oh, right," the gecko awkwardly scratched under his chin. "Well, at least you know he's still alive."

"But he's not right in the head!" the Turtle snapped. "We need to find him before someone hurts him or he hurts _himself_!"

"Yeah, but," Mondo yawned, "it's already half past five in the morning, and I'm getting really tired-"

"Then go home! But I'm not going back without Rocket. I'll sleep on a bench or in an alley if I have to."

Mondo looked at him surprised. "Whoa. This guy means a lot to you, huh?"

Mikey nodded, reflecting on the adventures he had with the raccoon and the other Guardians and their strong friendship. "More than you'll ever know, dude. I'll talk to you later." He started to walk away when Mondo called after him.

"Mikey!" the gecko ran to him. "Wait! I'm sorry, dude. I didn't realize how important this was to you. I-I mean..." He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "I mean, I'd do the same thing for the other Mutanimals." He grinned up at the Turtle. "So I won't stop until we find this raccoon dude."

Mikey smiled gratefully at him. "Thanks, bro."

Suddenly both of their stomachs began to growl.

"Uh, can we at least stop for a quick bite?" Mondo asked.

"Sure," Mikey chuckled.

* * *

"EEEEK!"

"Kill it! Kill it!"

"Get it out of the kitchen!"

The door to the back of a restaurant was kicked open and the feral Rocket sprinted outside. A man with a broom chased after him with a broom until they reached a chain-link fence. The raccoon managed to climb over it and ran across the street into an alley.

"And don't let me catch you in our restaurant again!" the man angrily yelled.

Rocket rested for a bit and licked his injured paw. One of the men who worked in the restaurant accidentally stepped on him in the midst of the chaos. He then sniffed around for some scraps of food. When he couldn't find any, he stepped out of the other end of the alley and went down a sidewalk. He came across an electronics store that had the door wide open, and so he snuck inside and got past the clerk, who was reading a magazine at his desk.

There weren't any customers in the store, but his ears picked up music and he followed them to a display of TVs. They were all playing the classic music video for Electric Light Orchestra's "Mr. Blue Sky", and just as Rocket approached them, Jeff Lynn sang into the microphone.

_Mr. Blue, you did it right_

_But soon comes Mr. Night creepin' over_

_Now his hand is on your shoulder _

_Never mind, I'll remember you this_

_I'll remember you this way_

_Mr. Blue Sky, please tell us why _

_You had to hide away for so long (so long)_

_Where did we go wrong?_

_Hey there, Mr. Blue (sky) _

_We're so pleased to be with you (sky)_

_Look around, see what you do (blue)_

_Everybody smiles at you _

As he listened to the song, something within the depths of his mind awakened and peeked through the darkness like a ray of sunshine, and without even realizing it, he was standing upright instead of on all fours.

As the video came to a close, a chorus sang offscreen as clouds floated away to reveal the blue sky. At that very moment, the clouds that kept his mind in the dark for two years lifted as well and the memories came flooding in all at once.

He remembered everything. Groot, Quill, Gamora, Drax, and Mikey. The daring escape from the Kyln. The fight at the bar on Knowhere. The Infinity Stone and Ronan. Groot's sacrifice. The war on Xandar. Stealing the batteries from the Sovereign. Yondu and his flying arrow. Fighting Ego. Meeting Thor. The Battle of Wakanda. The Snap.

Mikey reaching out to him in the alley.

_"Rocket,_ _it's_ me_, Mikey."_

The corners of his mouth slowly lifted into a smile and his eyes filled with tears.

He had been asleep for so long, but now he was wide awake.

The clerk finally noticed the raccoon standing in front of the TVs and grabbed a broom. He snuck up behind Rocket and prepared to swing, but then the animal turned around and looked up at him.

"Oh, hey," Rocket said casually. "How you doin'?"

The man froze and stared bug-eyed at the talking raccoon. There was a momentary pause before he fainted and dropped to the floor.

Rocket looked down at him with a raised eyebrow. "Huh. Okay then."

* * *

"Nothing like starting the morning with a McGriddle, right Mike?" Mondo said to Mikey as they exited a McDonald's together with a bag of food and two drinks.

"Yep," Mikey agreed. "Their breakfast sandwiches are the best."

"I can't wait to sink my teeth into mine. I've got a _mondo_ case of the munchies, heh heh."

They sat down on a bench under a tree and took their food out of the bag. Mondo immediately began to scarf down his sandwich and gulp down his coffee and Mikey was about to take a bite out of his when he sensed a presence nearby and froze. He looked around but didn't see anyone except a young couple who was passing by.

Mondo noticed Mikey acting strangely. "Whaf's wong?" he asked with his mouth full.

Just then a leaf fluttered down from the tree and landed on top of Mikey's head. As soon as it did, he grabbed Mondo and jumped off the bench...

...right before Fishface came down and stabbed his knife into the spot where the Turtle sat.

The aquatic mutant smiled evilly at the two. "I see you haven't lost your reflexes after all these years. Good." He pulled the knife out of the wood and twirled it. "I was hoping that you'd still be a challenge."

"Fishface!" Mikey gasped.

"Aw, c'mon, dude!" Mondo groaned. "You couldn't wait until _after_ breakfast? It's not a fair fight if our stomachs are empty!"

A deep voice spoke up from behind them. "You should've learned by now..."

They both turned around to see Tiger Claw pointing his gun at them.

"...we never fight fair."

Mikey glared at the one-eyed assassin. "I thought we had a truce, TC?" he said sternly.

"Truces aren't meant to last forever, Turtle," Claw responded. "And I'll make sure that you never interfere with my work again." He began to fire his weapon at Mikey, who quickly ditched the coat and hat so he could move quicker.

Meanwhile, Mondo was left alone with Fishface and realized that he no weapon but the cup of coffee that he was still holding. "Uh...don't make me have to use this!" he threatened as he pointed to the drink.

Fishface laughed. "Aw, is the _bebé _going to throw his milk at me?" Then he leapt at the gecko with the knife, preparing to cut his throat.

Mondo yelped and held up his drink in self-defense. The blade sliced through the cup and the coffee came bursting out. Fishface shrieked as he felt the scalding liquid burn his whole face and dropped to his knees.

"Tried to warn ya, dude!" Mondo said with a shrug and lopsided grin.

Claw blocked another kick from Mikey and managed to land a punch on the Turtle's plastron. Mikey let out a gasp the moment the tiger's strong paw sent him flying backwards and he skidded across the pavement on his shell a bit, which inflicted even more pain.

The tiger advanced toward the Turtle when he suddenly felt something jump onto his head.

"I got him, Mike!" Mondo yelled as he started to painfully pull on Claw's whiskers.

Claw roared as he reached up and grabbed the gecko by the neck.

"Ack-!" Mondo's eyes bulged out as Claw choked him.

"You _PEST_!" the tiger yelled as he tossed him aside.

Mikey watched in horror as his friend collided with a public mailbox and dropped to the ground unconscious, his Jamacian wig and busted shades lying a few inches away. He turned back to Claw enraged. "HEY!" He pulled out his nunchucks and charged at the tiger. "You're gonna pay for that!"

He swung his chucks furiously at Claw, but the big cat was quick and he dodged and blocked every blow.

"You cannot defeat me on your own, Turtle," Claw chucked darkly. "Without your brothers, you are weak. Easy prey. _Helpless_."

Those words felt like punches to Mikey's heart and he was starting to lose his focus. "Shut up!" he shouted. "I can take you!"

But Claw continued to taunt him. "You know I speak the truth. You are _nothing_ without your team."

Although he wanted to deny it, Mikey knew deep down that the tiger was right. His brothers weren't around to bail him out anymore. They could accomplish anything together, but on his own, he was limited. He tried his best on his own for the first year since the Snap, and it was all so overwhelming, like a huge burden had been placed on his shoulders and he could hardly lift it.

Claw's jab at his self-esteem and insecurities worked and in a moment of weakness, he let his guard down. The tiger took the opportunity to high kick the Turtle.

Mikey painfully landed on his shell and before he could even get up, Claw brought his foot down on his chest. The assassin pointed his gun at the Turtle's head and it lit up as he prepared to fire...

"HEY, PUSSYCAT!"

Claw's ear twitched when he heard an unfamiliar voice yell at him from behind and he turned around with a snarl. "Who would dare-?!"

Mikey lifted his head and to his surprise, Rocket stepped out of the shadows and was holding what appeared to be a portable boombox on his shoulder.

The raccoon glared at Claw. "Step away from the Turtle, and I _might_ let you live."

"Ha ha! Rocket!" Mikey laughed as much as he could under Claw's foot, overjoyed to see his friend back to his old self.

Claw initially looked at Rocket puzzled, then he growled in annoyance and waved him off. "Go away, rodent. I have no time to play with you."

"RODENT?!" Rocket shouted furiously before he pushed a couple of buttons on the radio. The end of the device then opened up to reveal a blue spark inside that slowly grew as he turned the volume knob.

Claw's only eye widened and his ears flattened worriedly.

The raccoon punched the "PLAY" button and a large ball of blue electricity shot out of the radio. Before Claw could even react, it hit him right in the chest and he flew backwards straight into a brick wall. The tiger's eye twitched and his whole body was smoking as he slowly slipped to the ground.

Rocket smiled and nodded in satisfaction. "Worked better than I expected."

Mikey sat up and stared at the fallen Claw with a dropped jaw. "Dude! That was-!" He turned back to Rocket and saw Fishface standing behind him, his face covered in burn blisters from the coffee. With a malicious look in his yellow eyes, he raised his knife above the raccoon's head. The Turtle reached his hand out to his friend. _"Rocket!"_

But before Fishface could bring his knife down, Mondo appeared and pulled a large waste basket over his head. "What the-?!" He started to curse in Portuguese as he struggled to free himself and stumbled around. He soon tripped and rolled down the street, making everyone else laugh hysterically.

"Like I said earlier," Mondo wiped a tear from his eye, "garbage belongs in the trash can and not on the streets."

"Got that right, Mondo," Mikey chuckled as he stood up. He approached Rocket and smiled down at him. "I can't believe you made a weapon out of a boombox, dude."

Rocket shrugged. "Eh, it wasn't too hard, and it only took about fifteen minutes." He raised an eyebrow and grinned at the Turtle. "But are you _really_ that surprised?"

Mikey shook his head, still smiling. "Nope."

The grin on Rocket's face dropped and he lowered his head in shame. "Listen, uh...I'm sorry that I, uh, you know...disappeared on ya."

Mikey frowned as well and knelt down in front of Rocket. "I was so worried about you, bro. Why'd you run off like that?"

The raccoon's chest rose as he took a deep breath and let out a heavy sigh. "I dunno." He lifted his head and looked up at the pink morning sky. "Out there I was someboby important. I had a purpose. But down here, well...I guess I felt like a nobody without the Guardians."

The Turtle looked at him sadly and knew exactly how he felt.

"And after the way this city treated me," Rocket continued, "the way they all looked at me like I was some worthless rodent, I figured, 'Why should I be anything else if that's all they'll ever see?' So yeah, I went crazy and forgot who I was." He chuckled weakly as he scratched his head. "Yeah, I know, it's stupid."

"No," Mikey softly said. "It's not stupid. Rocket, I'm _lost_ without my brothers. I'm not as strong as you think. And after you left...well, I kinda lost it, too."

"'Kinda'?" Mondo snorted. "Mike, you made Wilsons out of every item in the lair. You didn't just go crazy; you went Tom Hanks crazy."

Mikey looked at the gecko unamused. "Gee, thanks, Mondo." He turned back to Rocket and gave him a sad smile. "Rocket, I don't stand a chance on my own, and the same goes for you. But if we stick together, we just might make it."

Rocket smiled warmly at Mikey and gently touched his arm. "Not 'might'. We _will_ make it. Thanks for not giving up on me, kid."

The Turtle nodded and picked up the raccoon in a hug. But after smelling the smaller animal's filthy fur, he quickly put him back down. "Aw, dude!" he groaned as he covered his beak. "You _reek_! You smell worse than my socks!"

"Huh?" Mondo looked at Mikey confused. "Socks? You don't even wear shoes...do you?"

"Well, what did you expect?!" Rocket snapped. "I haven't had a bath in _two years_! What, you thought I would smell like flowers?" He then spotted the McDonald's bag on the bench. "Oh, sweet, McDonald's. I'm starving." He jumped onto the bench and looked inside the bag. "Ooh, is that a McGriddle?" He looked over at Mikey. "You wouldn't mind if I...?"

"Knock yourself out, dude," Mikey said with a grin. Then he realized something. "Wait..._you_ know what a McGriddle is?"

"Mike, I've been living off garbage," Rocket said as he took the sandwich out of the bag. "I know all the things that you Terrans eat. And let me tell you, some of it is _really_ disgusting, and people call _me_ an animal."


	6. Chapter 6

**Hi, everyone! I'm SO SORRY for being late! I had a REALLY bad case of writer's block...**

**NOTE: There will probably be grammar mistakes that I will fix later.**

_**Six months Later...**_

"Oh, God, please don't let them hurt her!" a blonde woman sobbed as her husband held her.

The NYPD had an elementary school completely surrounded, with a crowd of worried, frantic parents standing behind the barriers. Inside, the children were being held hostage by nine armed members of the Thanos cult, with two of them guarding the front entrance from behind the doors. The school's entire staff, including the principal, were released after over an hour of negotiating, but the cultists absolutely refused to let the students go.

They were all forced into the gym and held at gunpoint by six cultists, while their leader continued to talk on the phone with the negotiator. The members all wore black clothing with purple T's printed on their shirts and three vertical purple lines painted on their chins in honor of the dead Titan whom they deeply admired.

"It doesn't matter whether you pull your pigs back or not," the leader told the negotiator. "Half of these children _will_ meet their destiny."

_Wait,_ the negotiator begged. _Wait, please. Just listen. They're just kids. They didn't do anything to deserve this. Let's talk about this-_

"No," the leader sternly said. "No more talk. This is the will of Thanos." He then hung up and turned to his comrades. "It's time."

The other six cultists rounded up half of the students and forced them to all sit on the bleachers while the other half was allowed to leave the building and reunite with their parents, who were overwhelming relieved to hold them in their arms again. But the parents of the children who were still inside began to fear the worst and had to be pushed back by the officers from running into the school.

As the frightened students began to cry and hold each other, the leader stepped forward and spoke to them in a deceivingly soft voice. "Don't be scared, children. You'll get to be with Thanos." He then lifted his firearm and aimed it at the children, with his comrades following suit.

But before they could pull the trigger, the lights in the gym suddenly went off and they saw nothing but pitch blackness.

"Hey, what the-?!" "Who's here?!" "What just happened?!"

Amongst the yelling there was some whooshing as well the sound of a blade slicing through something, and less than ten seconds later, the lights went back on.

"Hey, Thanos dudes!" a male voice yelled to them from behind.

They all turned around and Mikey was standing in front of the exit doors with his kusarigama activated and wearing night goggles.

He grinned at the cultists. "Why don't you play with someone your own age?"

"Kill him!" the leader shouted, and they all pointed their large guns at the Turtle. But then the weapons suddenly fell apart and dropped to the floor in pieces.

"Oops," Mikey teased. "Looks like I broke your toys."

But that didn't stop them, as each of them pulled out a dagger and charged at him. Mikey deactivated his blades since he didn't want to kill any of them and used his nunchuck skills to defend himself against their attacks as well as land blows.

As this went on, the lid to the vent in the ceiling sudden popped off and fell to the floor, and to the children's surprise, a raccoon wearing a small grey hoodie and a pair of black shorts jumped out and landed on his feet in front of them.

"It's okay, kids," he smiled kindly at them. "We're gonna get you outta here." He motioned for them to follow him and they all rushed to the exit while Mikey had the cultists distracted.

Meanwhile, while the two remaining members continued to guard the front entrance, Nebula stepped out of the shadows and snuck up behind them. With her supernatural strength, she knocked both of them out with a double neck chop, and right at that moment, Rocket and the children came running down the hall.

The raccoon grinned up at the cyborg. "I thought you said you were gonna slit their throats?"

Nebula shrugged a little. "They're not worth getting my dagger dirty."

She and Rocket then pushed the doors open and all the children ran outside and into the arms of the parents. As soon as the last child reached the bottom step, the duo ran back inside.

The police immediately rushed into the building and found the unconscious guards as well as the other seven cultists who were tied up together in the gym, but the strangers who saved the students had already disappeared.

...

_The mysterious vigilantes strike again,_ the anchorwoman for Channel Six announced. _This time they've rescued the students at Wellington Elementary after nine members of the Thanos cult held them hostage for nearly three hours. According to the NYPD, the members were planning to murder half of the children. Thankfully their plans were thwarted by the vigilantes just in the nick of time. For the past few months__ since our heroes made their first appearance, crime has gone down significantly in New York, and the NYPD has expressed their gratitude for all the help that they've been receiving lately._

...

Once the anchorwoman stopped the announcement, the station's sound technician April grinned to herself.

"Good job, guys."

...

"Whew!" Rocket sighed as he collasped onto his beanie bag in the entertainment center. "What a day."

"Yeah," Mikey grunted as he sat down on the couch and stretched himself.

Nebula had gone into the kitchen to get some drinks and returned with cool soda cans. She tossed one to Rocket and handed Mikey his as she sat down next to him. "These cultists are getting more reckless every day," she muttered in disgust. "Now they're targeting children."

Rocket nodded after he took a sip. "Yeah, and can you believe there are morons out there who actually defend these guys? Last night, some dork on CNN said that it's a 'mostly peaceful religious organization'. It's a crazy world out there." He turned to Mikey. "No wonder you and your family preferred to live underground."

Mikey chuckled softly. "Well, it's not like we had a choice, being mutants and all." Just then his T-phone dinged and he pulled out to read the text message that he just received. His whole face lit up as his eyes went down the screen. "Sweet."

"What is it?" Nebula asked.

"Mondo and Pete just stopped more cult members from hijacking the subway. None of the citizens got hurt."

The cyborg grinned a little. "Hmph. Guess that lizard isn't so useless after all." She took a sip of her soda when she noticed Mikey looking at her. "What?"

Mikey had an amused smile on his face. "Does somebody have a crush?" he teased.

Nebula shot him a cold glare. "Don't be stupid. I just complimented him, that's all."

Rocket chuckled as he got up from his bag. "Well, I'm heading to the lab. That jetpack ain't gonna build itself, ya know."

Since his return, the raccoon had been building and experimenting in Donnie's lab to pass the time and keep himself busy. It was kind of creepy and awkward to work in a dead guy's lab, but Mikey assured him that he was just keeping Donnie's seat warm until they found a way to bring the genius Turtle and everyone else back.

Rocket was about to climb up the stool next to the desk when he picked up a strange sound, like glass cracking. He paused and looked at his surroundings, and when the noise returned, he followed it to a large object in the corner that had been covered with a grey sheet. He never peeked behind that sheet since he started working in the lab; in fact, surprisingly, he never even noticed it before. He grabbed a hold of the sheet and pulled it off...

"HOLY SH**!"

At the sound of Rocket screaming, both Mikey and Nebula rushed into the lab.

"What's wrong?!" Mikey yelled. Then he noticed what Rocket was staring at: a frozen creature in a large canister that was nothing but organs plus a pair of eyes and a mouth. "Oh, yeah, heh," he grinned and rubbed the back of his neck. "I never introduced you guys to Timothy."

Rocket looked up at him incredulously. "'Timothy'?" He pointed to the canister. "You tellin' me that's a _person_ in there?"

Mikey nodded. "He used to be a normal human until he got himself covered in mutagen, then he turned into _that_. Donnie tried to cure him, but he never did since he got erased by Thanos." He walked up to the canister and looked at the creature sadly. "I can't believe I forgot about him. Sorry, Pulverizer."

He gently touched the glass, but quickly pulled away when the ice began to chip. When he realized what was happening, he started to sweat. "Uh-oh."

"'Uh-oh'?" Rocket repeated, not liking the sound of that. "What does _that_ mean?"

Mikey backed away from the canister to where Rocket stood. "Well, uh, we had to freeze him 'cause he went a little, y'know..." He pointed at his head and made a circle with his finger.

Nebula slowly reached for her dagger. "So what do we do?"

Mikey turned to her alarmed. "Wait! Wait! Don't hurt him! Just...just give me a minute to think!"

"We may not _have_ a minute, kid!" Rocket warned.

And sure enough, less than five seconds later, the ice completely broke apart and Timothy's staticky voice screamed through the speaker as he finally awoke. His eyeballs blinked rapidly as he got a bearing of his surroundings, and when he spotted Mikey, they narrowed angrily and he even growled.

"Heh heh," Mikey chuckled nervously and waved at him. "Hey, dude. Good morning-uh, I mean, evening?"

Nebula leaned in close to Mikey and whispered, "What if he tries to attack?"

"Just _chill_, okay?" he whispered back. "We don't want to upset him."

"He already looks upset," Rocket said quietly.

"Well, it _is_ kinda my fault that he's this way, so let me talk to him." Mikey cleared his throat and smiled at Timothy as he stepped forward. "Sorry you had to wait so long, Pulverizer. So, uh, how are you feeling?"

Timothy's eyesballs moved around as he searched for someone. _**Where's Donnie?**_ he asked.

The smile on Mikey's face dropped. "Um, Donnie's...well, he's gone."

**_Uh? _**Timothy looked back at Mikey surprised.

"Yeah, and so is Leo. Raph doesn't live here anymore, so it's just me now." He gestured to Nebula and Rocket behind him. "Me and my new friends, Rocket and Nebula." He glanced back at them and said quietly, "C'mon, guys, quit staring. Say 'hi'."

Rocket reluctantly waved his paw. "Hey."

Nebula just gave the deformed monster a slight nod.

But Timothy didn't seem interested and looked around frantically. _**How long...?**_

Mikey understood the question and gulped before he answered, "It's been, I think...six years since we froze you."

_**SIX?! **_This greatly upset the monster and he started to wiggle around in the container, making it shake. _**SIX YEARS?! **_he roared. _**WHY?! WHY SIX YEARS?! **_

"Timothy! Dude! Dude!" Mikey raised his hands. "Calm down, okay?"

_**You said Donnie gone! Who cure me now?! Stuck like this forever! **_Timothy lowered his gaze in sadness. _**Forever...**_

Mikey moved in a little closer. "Hey, come on, Pulverizer," he said softly. "Don't give up hope. Yeah, Donnie's gone, but I know some people who can help you."

"You do?" Rocket spoke up.

The Turtle turned to the raccoon. "Well, duh! The Avengers, remember?"

Timothy raised his gaze at the mention of that name. _**Aven...gers?**_

"Yeah!" Mikey smiled big at him. "I'm totally friends with those guys now! I'll just ask them to find a cure for you!"

But Rocket wasn't as confident. "Uh, I dunno, Mike. You really think they could cure him? I mean, he's just a bunch a guts in a j-" Before he could finish his sentence, Nebula covered his mouth with her hand. When he looked up at her confused, the cyborg shook her head.

Mikey silently thanked her with a nod before he turned back to Timothy. "Don't listen to Rocket. He's always been too pessimistic. But I promise we'll get you cured, okay?"

Timothy didn't seem totally convinced and there was some doubt in his eyes. _**Donnie promised, too.**_

"Well," Mikey touched the glass again, "we won't fail you again this time. We're getting you out of that canister, no matter what." He patted the glass twice before he walked back to his friends. "Guys, let's head back to the living room," he whispered.

Timothy watched through the glass as they all walked out of the lab, and then his stomach started to growl from hunger. He thought about calling for Mikey, then he spotted something familiar on the desk: three test tubes filled with mutagen.

The urge to cosume the glowing ooze immediately took over, and he willed the canister to open up at the bottom. His freakishly long mouth slipped through the opening and reached for the tubes. His lips closed down on the first tube and he lifted it so that he could swallow its contents. At the sweet taste, his mind became blank and he quickly consumed the other two.

Like before, he formed two massive mutagen arms that burst through both sides of the cannister. But he was tired of being confined inside a giant jar. He needed to be free _now_.

He raised both fists and began to beat on the glass.

...

Meanwhile, in the living room, Mikey, Nebula, and Rocket argued over what should be done with Timothy.

"Come on, guys!" Mikey said. "I'm sure Dr. Banner or Mr. Stark will think of something! We can't just give up on him!"

"Kid, I feel you," Rocket softly told him, "but _look_ at him. It's impossible to make him completely normal again, unless you have magical, godlike powers, which none of us do. You can't give him false hopes."

"But we haven't even _tried_ my idea yet!"

"There is a third option," Nebula said, prompting the others to look at her. "We could just put him out of his misery."

"WHAT?!" Mikey yelled.

Even Rocket was shocked. "Sheesh, that's kinda harsh, even for you."

"It would be the merciful thing to do," she explained. "You can't expect anyone to live like that. I would want you two to do the same for me."

"Nebula, you're starting to sound like your Dad!" Mikey snapped.

The cyborg flinched. She wanted to punch the Turtle for comparing her to Thanos, but deep down, she knew that he was right.

"First I let Pulverizer turn into a monster," Mikey glanced down at the floor in shame. "Then I completely forget about him and leave him in here to collect dust." He looked back up at Nebula and Rocket. "I can't fail him again, guys. I just can't."

Rocket sighed. "Alright. We'll try your idea, even though the chances are-"

A loud crashing sound from inside the lab caused them to all jump.

"What the f-?!" Rocket shouted. "What was that?!"

Mikey dashed toward the lab and almost made it to the entrance, but then a huge hand made of mutagen punched the floor and missed him by couple of inches. What crawled into the living room looked like something straight out of a horror movie.

Timothy had not one, but three pairs of arms that served as his legs and his body was stretched out and more slender, like a centipede's. His eyes wiggled out like a snail's, and although he still had his lips, the lower half of his front opened up into a second massive mouth. And he was twice the size he was before.

Mikey backed away in fear, his eyes as wide as saucers. "Timothy..."

"Well, this ain't good," Rocket muttered before he ran to the coffee table where his large gun lay.

But Timothy stretched out one of his arms and brought his fist down on the table, smashing it. He also absorbed the gun and it melted in his grasp.

"Aw, come on!" Rocket yelled in annoyance. "It took me a week to make that gun!"

The mutagen monster then crawled up the walls and onto the ceiling. He briefly hissed at them before he made his way to the lair's exit, drops of ooze falling off his body and onto the floor as he did. He disappeared into the dark tunnels, leaving the stunned trio in the living room.

"Okay, that wasn't creepy at all," Rocket mumbled.

"We have to stop him before reaches the surface," Nebula said urgently.

"Okay, but we can't hurt him," Mikey insisted. "It's not his fault. The mutagen is making him crazy."

"You sure he wasn't crazy before?" Rocket dryly asked.

...

For the next hour, the three friends followed the trail of ooze down the dark tunnels. Rocket led the way with a large flashlight of his own design, and at some point, he spotted something on the floor and froze.

"Hold it," he whispered to Mikey and Nebula. He slowly moved toward the object, which was covered in mutagen. He carefully picked it up and wiped the ooze away, and his brown eyes widened in shock. "Holy crap," he muttered.

"What?" Mikey walked up to him. "What is it?"

Rocket showed the Turtle what he carried in his paws. "This is a liver."

Mikey's face became drained of color. "Liver?"

"Yep," the raccoon nodded. "Big enough to be a human's, so I'm pretty sure it belonged to your freakish friend."

"So he's falling apart?" Nebula asked.

"Looks like it. Apparently his body is unstable and he can't survive long out of that canister of his."

"Then we don't have much time!" Mikey frantically said. "We gotta find him before he gets out of the tunnels!"

"He's already out. See?" Rocket shined his light on one of the manhole ladders, which had bits of mutagen on each step.

...

A woman screamed in horror as she and a few other civilians fled down the street.

The mutagen centipede crawled toward a hot dog stand and scared away the vendor. He opened up his second mouth and gobbled up the whole stand, which completely disintegrated in his blob of a body.

A police car came screeching down the street and two cops hopped out, pointing their guns at the creature.

"Hold it right there!" one of them shouted. "Don't move!"

Timothy glared at them unfazed before he let out a ferocious roar. The startled cops began shooting, but the bullets were merely absorbed and disintegrated by Timothy's body.

The second cop then fired his tazer and the electric shock did have an effect on Timothy, but to him, it merely felt like a bee sting and did not stop him from crawling toward them. They both retreated as the monster smashed their car with his fists.

...

Mikey, Rocket, and Nebula all climbed out of the manhole and could hear the sounds of people screaming and cars smashing nearby.

"Well, at least he's not far," Rocket said.

Lying in a pile of ooze a couple of feet from them was another human organ, this time a spleen.

Mikey's heart began to beat fast and cold sweat formed on his brow. They were running out of time.

...

Timothy crawled across the street toward a cafe, where unsuspecting citizens were enjoying their desserts and coffee. As soon as he pressed his palms against the window, though, they finally noticed him and ran out of the small restaurant in terror. He shattered the glass and used his regular mouth to gobble up the cupcakes and pieces of pie that had been left on the tables.

"Yo, Pulverizer!"

At the sound of Mikey's voice, the monster narrowed his eyes in rage and twirled around. The Turtle and his two friends stood at the other side of the street across from him.

"Timothy, you gotta come back to the lair!" Mikey pleaded.

The mutagen centipede just hissed at him venomously.

"He's not listening," Rocket warned Mikey.

But the Turtle ignored him and pulled out the spleen that he found. He held it up for Timothy to see. "Dude, you're falling apart! _Literally!_"

At the sight of his organ in Mikey's hand, Timothy let out a raspy gasp...right before all of his intenstines came falling out and landed on the sidewalk. He looked down at the mess in horror and realized that Mikey was telling the truth.

"Timothy, get over here!" Mikey shouted. "Hurry!"

Timothy started to scurry across the street, but as he moved, more and more of his organs fell out and his blob-like body began to shrink. The only part of him that made it to the other side was his brain, which rolled to Mikey's feet in a ball of ooze.

"Eeeuck!" Rocket's nose wrinkled in disgust.

"I know it's gross, guys," Mikey picked up the brain, "but we gotta gather up the rest of his-"

In the blink of an eye, a box truck ran over the remaining organs, smushing them completely.

"Oh, sh**," Rocket cursed under his breath as he covered his mouth.

Even Nebula, who spent most of her life facing the horrors of war, had to avert her gaze.

Mikey couldn't believe what he had just seen. This all had to be a bad dream. He looked back down at the ball of mutagen in his trembling hands. Inside the brain pulsated, indicating that it was still alive.

But for how long?


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey, guys! Sorry I took so long! Anyway, I hope you all have a MERRY CHRISTMAS! :D**

**Note: There will probably be grammar mistakes that I will fix later.**

"Okay, so tell me: why am I staring at a _human brain_ in a _bowl_?" Tony Stark asked the mutant Turtle, raccoon, and the cyborg that stood on his front porch.

The trio showed up unannounced and surprised him with a rather disturbing sight: a slime-covered brain in a bowl which Mikey held. Plus, he didn't even have time to change into his casual clothes and so he stood before them in his robe. Needless to say, he was peeved.

Mikey grinned sheepishly at the retired hero. "Heh, sorry, Mr. Stark. We, uh, had no where else to go."

"So you come here?" Tony concluded in annoyance. "To my house, where my two-year-old daughter lives? My wife is gonna _flip_ when she finds out." He pointed to wrist watch. "By the way, you have any idea what _time_ it is?"

Sighing, Rocket stepped forward. "Look, we know this is an inconvenience, not to mention inappropriate, but what else could we do? Waltz into a hospital and say, 'Hey, we got a brain here!'?"

"I do see your point," Tony agreed. "But you could've at least called."

"Hey, we panicked! And we _did_ have the courtesy to call your office, but that guy Happy said you'd be here."

Mikey looked at Tony with pleading eyes. "Mr. Stark, we wouldn't come here if this wasn't a real emergency," he said softly. "And believe me, sir, this _is_ an emergency. My friend needs your help."

There was sympathy in Tony's eyes as he looked down at the brain and back up at Mikey. "Kid, not that I don't want to help, but what do you expect _me_ to do about it?"

The Turtle shrugged. "I...I don't know. Build him a new body or something?"

The man was surprised by this request. "'Build him a new body'? What, you mean, like, a new _mechanical_ body? A walking life support machine?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Rocket said.

"You don't think it's possible?" Nebula asked.

"No," Tony shook his head. "No, it's possible, but it wouldn't be easy. We're talking about bioengineering here. The expensive kind. To pull this off, we'd have to construct a mechanical suit that could support his brain." He glanced at the brain again. "I'm surprised that thing is even still alive at this point."

There was a glimmer of hope in Mikey's eyes. "So you're saying, there's a chance we can save him?"

There was a pause before Tony nodded. "Yeah. But we have to act fast. And I need to make a quick call."

...

"Good to see you again, Banner."

Tony greeted his fellow Avenger at the front entrance of their old headquarters, but instead of the human Bruce Banner, the Hulk gently took his friend's hand and shook it. While he now had the massive green body, he still had the mind of the timid scientist and was fully clothed, and he even wore a pair of glasses, which looked rather odd on him.

Bruce smiled warmly at Tony and nodded. "It's been a while. How's the retired life working for you?"

"Not too bad," Tony said with a shrug. "It gets a little boring sometimes."

"You're always bored, Tony," Bruce joked. "Anyway, what's the big emergency?"

Tony gestured to the front doors. "Come on, I'll show you. I have to warn you, though, it's a bit...disturbing, to say the least."

...

While Mikey, Rocket, and Nebula waited for Tony and Bruce in the living area, the Turtle stared with a drinking bird toy that was on the table. His eyes followed the bird's head as it tipped into the glass of water and lifted itself back up repeatedly, his gaze almost trance-like as he leaned forward and rested his chin on his folded arms.

"You know, every time I watch the bird drink," he said softly and slowly, "I ask myself, 'Why are we here? Will we ever find our purpose in life, or will we continue to drink from the glass of knowledge and never be satisfied?'"

After Mikey said those words, both Rocket and Nebula looked at him shocked. When did the goofy carefree Turtle become philosophical? What kind of toy was that anyway? Before either of them could ask, Tony and Bruce walked into the room.

Rocket was surprised to see Bruce in his current form. "Doc? Sheesh, what happened to you? You look a little...green. And from what I've heard, green is _not_ a good color for humans."

Bruce chuckled. "Don't worry, I'm fine. I'll tell you all about it later. I understand that you've got an emergency?"

"Oh, yeah." Rocket turned to Mikey, who was still staring at the drinking bird. With an annoyed growl, he climbed onto the table and knocked the bird down, breaking Mikey out of his trance.

"Huh-what?" Mikey blinked and finally noticed Bruce. "Oh! Dr. Banner! Thank the Pizza Maker in the sky!" He ran to the scientist and eagerly shook his hand. "I see you've been working out! Anyways, we need your help! Years ago my friend Timothy turned into a mutant and we had to freeze him but then he unfroze and went crazy and there was a horrible accident and now he's nothing but a brain and he needs a new body!" He took a deep breath after talking so fast. "So can you help us?"

Bruce blinked. "I...I'm sorry, I didn't catch any of that."

Rocket rolled his eyes and sighed as he hopped off the table and walked toward a chair where Timothy's bowl sat. "His freaky pal had an accident." He picked up the bowl and presented it to Bruce. "This is all that's left of him."

Bruce's eyes went big when he saw the ooze-covered brain inside and he clamped a hand over mouth. "Oh, holy...!"

"Told ya," Tony muttered.

"We need you two to build him a new body," Rocket said. "Stark says it's possible. What about you?"

"I..." Bruce cleared his throat and readjusted his glasses. "I suppose it's possible. I'll-I'll-I'll need to run a few tests though." He bent down to take the bowl from the raccoon and turned to Tony. "Tony, I'll need you for a couple of minutes."

Tony nodded and followed the larger scientist into the workshop, leaving the others in the common area.

"Well, while we're waiting..." Mikey walked back to the table and activated the drinking bird again, watching it intensely.

Rocket groaned and turned to Nebula. "Great. Now he's gonna start saying weird crap again."

...

It was over an hour before the two geniuses emerged from the small lab and the trio immediately stopped what they were doing and waited for their news.

"Okay, well," Bruce sighed softly and took off his glasses, "There's good news and uh, bad news."

The three friends glanced at each other worriedly and Rocket was the first to speak up. "Give us the bad news first."

"Well, the bad news is," Tony said, "we can't save his brain."

Mikey instantly felt his heart drop. "Y-You can't? Why not?"

"Were you aware that your friend had...well..." Bruce glanced at Tony uneasily before he turned back to Mikey, "...brain cancer?"

At that question, Mikey's eyes widened. He couldn't have heard the scientist right. "He...he had what?"

"Well, according to the scan, there was a parasagittal meningioma that grew and spread to-"

"Wait wait wait. Hold up. You're telling me...that all this time...Timothy was sick?"

Bruce looked at the Turtle with sad eyes. "Yes, very sick. For quite some time. There wouldn't be any point in preserving his brain since it's already dying."

"Huh," Rocket scratched the back of his head. "Well, what do you know." He turned to Mikey and gave him a small encouraging smile. "You freezing him probably saved his life."

But Mikey wasn't paying attention to anything the raccoon was saying. He was trying to wrap his head around the fact that Timothy had cancer and kept it a secret from him and his brothers. Mikey thought that Timothy was just a weird nerd who had nothing better to do and did the heroics because it was fun, but now he knew the whole truth. Timothy knew that his time in this world was short and he wanted to spend his last days doing something worthwhile like helping others and defending the weak from the bad guys, and he thought that his idols could help him. Instead, they let him turn into a freak and even forgot about him for years, which made Mikey feel even guiltier and tears formed in his eyes.

Nebula noticed those tears and she gave Mikey a comforting pat on his shell, then she turned back to Bruce and Tony. "What's the good news?"

"The good news is, we can still save him," Tony announced. "It's a longshot, but it's his only chance."

"Let's hear it," Rocket said.

"Have any of you ever heard of 'whole brain emulation'?" Bruce asked the trio.

"'Whole brain...'?" Rocket's ears perked up in realization. "You're talking about mind uploading, right?"

Tony nodded. "Exactly."

"Wait, mind what?" Mikey asked his raccoon friend.

"They're saying we could try transferring Timothy's consciousness into a computer," Rocket explained. "Basically, we make a digital copy of his mind before it completely disappears."

"You...you can really do that?" Mikey said with awe.

"I've heard of such an operation," Nebula said. "My father considered it once, so that he could live on forever and continue his work."

"Problem is, it's never been done before," Tony said. "At least not on this planet. We will be the first humans in history to have transferred a mind into a digital brain. If we succeed, that is, and nothing goes wrong. Once we're done with the transfer, we'll have to insert his new brain into a mechanical body."

"There are major risks involved," Bruce warned, "so we'll have to contact his family and ask them-"

"He doesn't have any family," Mikey spoke up with some sadness in his voice. "We already checked. He doesn't have anyone. So as his friends, we're giving you the OK, Doc."

Rocket and Nebula both nodded in agreement.

Bruce took a deep breath. "Alright, then." He turned to Tony and nodded. "Let's get to work. The clock's ticking."

...

Mikey and Nebula returned back to the lair to clean the mess that Timothy had left during his escape, which also helped the young Turtle to get his mind off the operation. Rocket stayed behind to help Bruce and Tony since he, too, he was a mechanical genius and after all, three brilliant minds were better than two.

As he swept the broken glass in Donnie's lab with a broom, he looked at Timothy's old busted canister and released a shaky sigh.

Nebula walked into the lab with a soda can and silently handed it to Mikey.

"Thanks," Mikey said quietly as he took it from her and opened it.

"Are you okay?" she asked him.

He took a sip before he answered, "I had no idea that he was sick. None of us did. If we had known that before...I mean, why didn't he tell us?"

"Maybe he didn't want to look weak," Nebula suggested. "Maybe he didn't want your pity."

"We used to make fun of him behind his back," Mikey confessed, feeling ashamed of himself. "He wore that goofy costume and messed up all the time. To us, he was just some dork who was obsessed with us." He looked up at Nebula with wet eyes. "We laughed at him, and all he wanted to do was to help people while he still had time." He sniffled and wiped his nose with his arm. "We weren't the heroes Timothy thought we were. We were just jerks. _He_ was the real hero. And now he's dying."

"But you're doing everything you can to help him," Nebula assured him. "You've left him in good hands, and they _will_ save him. You just need to have more faith."

Mikey chuckled weakly. "Since when did _you_ start being more optimistic?"

Nebula grinned a little. "I learned from the best."

...

The hours passed and Mikey eventually fell asleep on the couch with a magazine covering his face and snoring loudly.

A blue hand reached down to remove the magazine. "Hey."

"Huh...?" Mikey fluttered his eyes open and saw Nebula standing over him. "Oh, hey, Neb." He yawned as he sat upright and stretched himself. "What's up?"

"Rocket just called," she informed.

The Turtle's eyes popped open and he jumped off the couch. "Did they do it?!" he shouted. "Is Timothy gonna be ok?!"

She raised a hand to calm him down. "All he said was that we need to come down right away."

...

Within thirty minutes, Mikey and Nebula were back at the Avengers headquarters and Rocket was in the common area waiting for them, sitting on the edge of the table next to Timothy's brain, which was now in a jar.

Mikey became alarmed when he saw the brain and he ran to the raccoon. "Rocket, what happened?" he asked urgently. "You guys couldn't save Timothy?"

But Rocket didn't look the least bit worried or sad; in fact, he was grinning. "You're looking at the _old_ Timothy," he said as he tapped the glass of the jar.

As if on cue, Bruce walked into the room and was carrying a metal box. He carefully lifted the lid, revealing a small hexagonal prism inside. The outlines lit blue as it made a quiet humming sound. The Avenger smiled at the Turtle and cyborg. "Meet the _new_ Timothy."

Mikey gasped softly as he approached the box and looked at the strange device. "_That's_ Timothy?"

"Well, more accurately, he's inside the hard drive. We've managed to convert his consciousness into data and store it in this device. It took over twelve hours and we had to rush for his sake, but we did it. We actually did it." He chuckled softly. "I'm finding it hard to believe, myself. This is a huge scientific breakthrough. Now I know how Thomas Edison felt after he invented the lightbulb."

Mikey couldn't hold back his joyous laughter as he hugged the large green scientist. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! You guys really are the best!"

"Don't thank us just yet," Tony's voice spoke up and everyone turned to see the other Avenger wheeling in a brand new suit of armor of his own design that hung from rack.

Mikey's eyes sparkled in wonder and amazement. The suit looked like the traditional Iron Man one, except the face, upper arms, and upper legs were painted red while the rest of it was green. The same exact colors of Timothy's old costume before he mutated. "That...is..._awesome_!" he exclaimed.

"It's specifically designed to support the new brain," Tony said as he pointed at the head of the suit. "It'll only be activated once the hard drive is plugged in."

"Can it fly, too?" Mikey asked excitedly. "And shoot lasers out of its hands?"

"Well, no. So far it's only function is to...well, be a body. But...if your friend is still interested in the hero thing, I could make some modifications."

"There's only way to find out," Rocket said to Mikey. "We wanted to wait 'til you got here to activate him."

"So you wouldn't miss this moment," Bruce said.

Mikey smiled gratefully at all three of them. "Aww, thanks guys."

"Well," Tony carefully lifted the hard drive out of the metal box and approached the suit, "here goes nothing. Hold your breath."

Mikey did exactly did as the face of the suit automatically opened up to reveal an outlet for the hard drive. Tony carefully plugged the drive in and as soon as he pulled his hand away the face closed up again. For five seconds, nothing happened, and Mikey began to feel a little disheartened.

But then the lights in the eye slits turned on and the suit came to life with a gasp. It lifted its head and looked at its surroundings, and once it locked eyes with Mikey, it spoke its first words.

**_M...Michelangelo?_**

Mikey smiled so big he felt his face could break. Timothy's old normal voice was back, and it sounded so clear and smooth unlike his last voice box. "Hey, Pulverizer! Good to see you again!"

Timothy continued to look around. _**Where...Where am I?**_

"Dude, you wouldn't believe me if I told you!" Mikey laughed.

When Timothy spotted Tony and Bruce, he let out another gasp. _**Whoa. Are you who I think you are?**_

Tony greeted him with a nod. "That's right."

"How are you feeling, Timothy?" Bruce asked.

_**Uh...a little weird, **_Timothy answered. _**For some reason I can't move my arms or legs. And my memory's a little fuzzy. **_

"What can you remember?" Mikey asked him.

**_Well, the last thing I remember is the mutagen coming down on me. Then...I don't know. Everything just blacked out. _**

"Wait," Mikey scratched his head, "you don't remember becoming a mutant? Or anything after that?" It amazed him that Timothy didn't remember turning into a freak and going nuts, but it was probably for the best.

**_I really became a mutant?!_** Timothy asked excitedly. **_So it _did_ work! Was I a cool mutant?!_**

Mikey turned to Rocket, who just shrugged. "Uh..." he scratched the back of his neck as he tried to think of something to say.

**_Wait. Is that a _brain_? _**Timothy looked directly at the jar on the table.

"Alright," Rocket groaned as he stood up on the table. "Someone's gotta tell him eventually. Kid, this is _your_ brain."

_**...M-Mine?**_

"Yeah. Your mutation was unstable and you literally fell apart. The only part of you we could save was your brain, but even that was dying, too. So we transferred your mind into a robot that Mr. Stark designed for you."

**_Robot? _**Timothy looked down at himself and was surprised to see his new body.

Mikey walked up to him and patted his metallic arm. "But now you look even cooler than you did as a mutant!" he said in hopes of comforting him. "And you're not just any robot; you're an Iron Man!"

But that didn't seem to cheer Timothy up and he said in a somber voice, **_But...I'm _still_ a robot.  
_**

Nebula stepped forward with an angry expression. "Michelangelo saved your life," she told him sternly. "You're only alive now because of him. Show more gratitude."

Mikey turned to her and shook his head. "Nebula, don't-"

_**No, it's okay, **_Timothy softly assured. _**She's right. I guess it's my own fault. I mean, I volunteered to become a mutant 'cause I wanted to be more like you. I was in way over my head, and I deserve this. **_

"Hey, come on, Timothy," Mikey looked up at him sadly. "Don't be so hard on yourself. We know why you wanted to be a hero. And I just wish you had told us about the...you know...cancer."

_**You...know about that? Aww, shucks. I didn't want you guys to worry. **_

"Well, the good thing about being converted into data is, you won't ever have to worry about cancer or any illness again," Bruce told him. "I know it's a big change, son, but we'll be there to help you get through it."

"It'll take a while to get used to your new body," Tony explained. "You can't move your limbs now, but with time and patience, you'll get the hang of it."

"And guess what, Timothy?" Mikey walked over to Tony and playfully slapped him on the back. "Mr. Stark offered to give you an upgrade if you decide to become a hero again. You know, with flying boots and laser hands!"

**_Really? _**Timothy asked Tony. _**You'd train me, Mr. Stark?**_

Tony shrugged. "I don't see why not. It'd give me something to do anyway."

_**Wow! **_Timothy laughed, clearly excited. _**I can't believe it! I'm gonna be trained by an Avenger! I can't wait to get started! **_He then looked at Mikey. _**And Mikey, thanks for saving me. You really are a pal.**_

Although he didn't feel like he deserved Timothy's thanks, he smiled warmly at the robot and gave him a thumbs up. At least he was able to save one more friend.

...

Tony sighed tiredly as he reached into the fridge to get a bottle of water.

He was extremely exhausted but also very proud of himself. Today was a tremendous, historic accomplishment: the first ever digitalization of the human consciousness. Now that he knew that the operation was possible, it could used to help millions of people who were beyond medical help. Of course, he couldn't have done it without Bruce and Rocket. He owed his fellow geniuses big time.

He sat down at the table and glanced around. It was weird being back in the old kitchen, where the other Avengers would gather for a quick snack and short friendly conversation. He felt so small at the big empty table, and ever since he retired and became solo once again, he realized just how small he truly was.

"Mr. Stark?"

He glanced toward the entrance and saw Mikey standing there and looking a bit shy as he rubbed his right arm. "Could I, uh, join you?"

Tony grinned and gestured to the empty seat next to his. "Sure. Have a seat. Want something to eat?"

"No, thanks," Mikey quickly took his seat. "Too tired to eat. Anyway, I just wanted to thank you for helping us out."

"It was nothing, kid," Tony assured him. "I may not be Iron Man anymore, but I'll always be Tony Stark, and he'll always help out in any way he can."

Mikey smiled and nodded. "You know, you were always Donnie's favorite Avenger."

"Who?"

"Oh, he was my brother. My bros and I looked up to you guys. You totally inspired us, and after you saved New York from Loki and his army, we just couldn't stay in the sewers anymore and finally convinced our Dad to let us go topside. Leo's favorite Avenger was Captain America, the Hulk was Raph's, and you were Donnie's."

"I see. And who was _your_ favorite?"

"Mine? Hmmmm..." Mikey looked up at the ceiling as he pondered, then he shrugged. "I dunno. You were _all_ so cool."

Tony chuckled softly. "Thanks."

"Donnie was an inventor just like you. He even dreamed about working for Stark Industries, but he didn't think you'd ever hire him since he was a mutant."

"Well, hey, I'm not the judgmental type. It's the brains I care about...mostly. I could still hire him. But given that you're referring to him in past tense, I take it he's..."

Mikey glanced down at the table sadly. "Yeah. He got erased by Thanos. Leo, too."

"Sorry," Tony quietly said.

"There wasn't anything that my bros and I couldn't do, as long as we stayed together. But after they disappeared, I felt...lost. And helpless. I tried to keep things under control on my own, but I couldn't."

"Yeah," Tony nodded. "I know exactly how you feel. Everyone keeps saying that the Avengers were the greatest heroes in the world, and yeah, we kinda were. As naive as it sounds, I really thought we would stay a team forever, but I guess...nothing lasts forever."

"My Dad said that, too. But he also said that all endings pave the way for new beginnings. Yeah, I lost my old team, but I have a new one now. Rocket and Nebula have been helping me protect this city, and for the first time since the Snap, I feel...well, happy. Like, for real happy. I'll always miss my family, but it doesn't hurt as much."

Tony nodded. "That's how I felt after my daughter was born."

"By the way, I've been meaning to ask you, is it true that Spider-Man was your sidekick?"

At that mention of that name, Tony tensed up. Bringing up that topic was always painful, but he knew that Mikey wasn't aware. After all, nobody, with the exception of Happy and Pepper, knew just how close he and Peter were.

He cleared his throat before he answered, "Well, I wouldn't exactly use the term 'sidekick'. He was his own hero, but he was young and...inexperienced. So I kinda took him under my wing." He then chuckled. "You know, your robot friend reminds me a little of him."

"Really?" Mikey asked surprised. "Timothy reminds you of Spider-Man?"

"Yeah. He was kinda...how do I say this...nerdy. But he used his powers to help others, never for selfish reasons. He used to say often, 'With great power, comes great responsibility.'"

"Wow. That's deep."

"He was a good kid. Left this world too soon," Tony added somberly before he took a sip of his water. "Anyway, after your friend asked me to train him, I just couldn't say 'no'."

"He won't disappoint you, Mr. Stark. I know he'll be a great hero." Mikey stood up from his seat and offered his hand to shake. "And I promise to do my best, too."

With an encouraging smile, Tony took his hand and shook it. "I know you will, kid."


End file.
